[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 135 (Friday, July 15, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-17275]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: July 15, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

46 CFR Part 68

[CGD 94-050]

 

Deep Frames in Vessel Admeasurement

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Policy statement.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is issuing this policy statement to address 
the variances in its practices related to the use of deep-frames in 
vessel admeasurement. Recent decisions applying the rules of practice 
regarding deep-frames to existing vessels during remeasurement have 
raised questions of fairness in application of the practices. This 
policy addresses the acceptance of deep-frames used in the construction 
of vessels under previously accepted practices.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 15, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Kenneth C. Hixson, Vessel Documentation and Tonnage Survey Branch 
at (202) 267-1492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The admeasurement of vessels has a long 
history. Indeed, the earliest admeasurement statute was enacted by the 
First Congress in 1789. Over the years, as the Nation's maritime law 
developed, various Federal statutes used vessel tonnage as a parameter 
for certain requirements. As a vessel's tonnage became increasingly 
important as a parameter, the marine industry developed a number of 
artificial construction techniques which had the effect of reducing 
tonnage. The use of deep-frames was one of these techniques.
    The method of measuring under the standard or regulatory tonnage 
system allows deep-frames to work as a tonnage reduction technique. 
This method calls for the hull dimension measurements to be taken from 
the inner face of the deep-frame rather than the interior wall of the 
hull. Therefore, a deep-frame excludes more space from the tonnage 
calculation and lowers the resulting tonnage. In this manner a vessel 
may avoid having to meet certain regulatory requirements that are based 
on the vessel's tonnage.
    In the past, several different interpretations existed regarding 
the use of deep-frames in tonnage measurement. Some interpretations 
permitted deep-frames to be notched in a way that permitted more area 
to be excluded, resulting in lower tonnage, others did not permit 
notching in the same manner; some required deep-frames to begin and 
terminate on a bulkhead, others did not; and so forth. Each of these 
interpretations served as a local rule of practice for constructing a 
deep-frame in the particular Coast Guard District where used. Vessel 
owners, as a matter of business practice, constructed their vessels 
with deep-frames meeting the least onerous locally acceptable practice. 
Although deep-framing techniques were developed with the general intent 
that they be consistently applied, no effort was ever made to achieve 
consistency in application or to disseminate the existing 
interpretations or practices. In addition, since the nuances of the 
practices did not detract from nor contribute to the safe construction 
of the vessel, no urgency was present to make the practices consistent. 
Therefore, numerous vessels were constructed using different practices 
regarding deep-frames, each of which was locally acceptable as a deep-
frame technique for tonnage measurement purposes. Many of those vessels 
are still in service today.
    On December 23, 1983, the Coast Guard entered into a Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU) that delegated certain aspects of the tonnage 
measurement function to the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). Since 
that time, the rules of practice regarding the use of deep-frames in 
construction have been applied with greater consistency.
    A vessel which was constructed before the 1983 MOU recently 
underwent extensive shipyard work. The scope of the work performed 
resulted in a requirement that the vessel be readmeasured. During the 
measurement process, existing deep-frames in the vessel were not 
accepted as deep-frames for tonnage measurement purposes because they 
did not conform to the rules of practice as currently interpreted. To 
modify the deep-frames on this one vessel to conform to the current 
rules of practice would cost approximately $250,000. Since the deep-
frames on the vessel as configured at construction were accepted as 
such for tonnage measurement purposes, and since modification of the 
deep-frames would not contribute to the safe construction or operation 
of the vessel, the Coast Guard will not require the deep-frames to be 
modified to meet the current interpretation of the rules of practice.
    The purpose of this policy statement is to preserve the acceptance 
of deep-frames used in the construction of vessels under previously 
accepted practices. The Coast Guard's opinion is that to require vessel 
owners to now modify deep-frames that met acceptable practices when 
originally installed, would subject them to unnecessary costs. The 
alternative for the vessel owners is to remeasure their vessels without 
the benefit of the deep-frames. This alternative could subject the 
vessel to various regulatory and operational requirements for which it 
was not designed.
    The Coast Guard's policy is that all deep-frames installed during 
construction of a vessel delivered before December 23, 1983, and 
accepted under local rules of practice as deep-frames for original 
measurement of the vessel, will be accepted as deep-frames for all 
tonnage measurement purposes under current rules of practice. Any 
vessel delivered on or before December 23, 1983, must meet the current 
rules of practice for deep-frames. In addition, any new or additional 
deep-frames installed after the effective date of this policy statement 
on vessels delivered before December 23, 1983, must meet the current 
rules of practice for deep-frames.

    Dated: July 11, 1994.
J.C. Card,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard Chief, Office of Marine Safety, Security 
and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 94-17275 Filed 7-14-94; 8:45 am]
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