General Rules for Tankers Owned or Operating in the USA 2020 Edition 110 33 CFR Ch. I (7–1–19 Edition) PART 26—VESSEL BRIDGE-TO- BRIDGE RADIOTELEPHONE REGU- LATIONS Sec. 26.01Purpose. 26.02Definitions. 26.03Radiotelephone required. 26.04Use of the designated frequency. 26.05Use of radiotelephone. 26.06Maintenance of radiotelephone; failure of radiotelephone. 26.07Communications. 26.08Exemption procedures. 26.09List of exemptions. AUTHORITY: 14 U.S.C. 2, 33 U.S.C. 1201–1208; Pub. L. 107–295, 116 Stat. 2064; Department of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1; Rule 1, International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea. SOURCE: CGD 71–114R, 37 FR 12720, June 28, 1972, unless otherwise noted. §26.01Purpose. (a)The purpose of this part is to im- plement the provisions of the Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radiotelephone Act. This part: (1)Requires the use of the vessel bridge-to-bridge radiotelephone; (2)Provides the Coast Guard’s inter- pretation of the meaning of important terms in the Act; (3)Prescribes the procedures for ap- plying for an exemption from the Act and the regulations issued under the Act and a listing of exemptions. (b)Nothing in this part relieves any person from the obligation of com- plying with the rules of the road and the applicable pilot rules. §26.02Definitions. For the purpose of this part and in- terpreting the Act: Act means the ‘‘Vessel Bridge-to- Bridge Radiotelephone Act’’, 33 U.S.C. sections 1201–1208; Length is measured from end to end over the deck excluding sheer; Power-driven vessel means any vessel propelled by machinery; and Secretary means the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating; Territorial sea means all waters as de- fined in §2.22(a)(1) of this chapter. Towing vessel means any commercial vessel engaged in towing another vessel astern, alongside, or by pushing ahead. Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) means a service implemented under Part 161 of this chapter by the United States Coast Guard designed to improve the safety and efficiency of vessel traffic and to protect the environment. The VTS has the capability to interact with marine traffic and respond to traf- fic situations developing in the VTS area. Vessel Traffic Service Area or VTS Area means the geographical area encom- passing a specific VTS area of service as described in Part 161 of this chapter. This area of service may be subdivided into sectors for the purpose of allo- cating responsibility to individual Ves- sel Traffic Centers or to identify dif- ferent operating requirements. NOTE: Although regulatory jurisdiction is limited to the navigable waters of the United States, certain vessels will be encouraged or may be required, as a condition of port VerDate Sep<11>2014 09:08 Aug 14, 2019Jkt 247137PO 00000Frm 00120Fmt 8010Sfmt 8010Y:\SGML\247137.XXX247137 pparker on DSK3GDR082PROD with CFR 3 PART 26 – VESSEL BRIDGE-TO-BRIDGE RADIOTELEPHONE REGULATIONS 111 Coast Guard, DHS §26.04 entry, to report beyond this area to facili- tate traffic management within the VTS area. (Rule 1, International Regulations for Pre- venting Collisions at Sea, 1972 (as rectified); E.O. 11964 (14 U.S.C. 2); 49 CFR 1.46(b)) [CGD 71–114R, 37 FR 12720, June 28, 1972, as amended by CGD 77–118a, 42 FR 35784, July 11, 1977; CGD 90–020, 59 FR 36322, July 15, 1994; USCG–2001–9044, 68 FR 42601, July 18, 2003] §26.03Radiotelephone required. (a) Unless an exemption is granted under §26.09 and except as provided in paragraph (a)(4) of this section, this part applies to: (1) Every power-driven vessel of 20 meters or over in length while navi- gating; (2) Every vessel of 100 gross tons and upward carrying one or more pas- sengers for hire while navigating; (3) Every towing vessel of 26 feet or over in length while navigating; and (4) Every dredge and floating plant engaged in or near a channel or fairway in operations likely to restrict or af- fect navigation of other vessels except for an unmanned or intermittently manned floating plant under the con- trol of a dredge. (b) Every vessel, dredge, or floating plant described in paragraph (a) of this section must have a radiotelephone on board capable of operation from its navigational bridge, or in the case of a dredge, from its main control station, and capable of transmitting and receiv- ing on the frequency or frequencies within the 156–162 Mega-Hertz band using the classes of emissions des- ignated by the Federal Communica- tions Commission for the exchange of navigational information. (c) The radiotelephone required by paragraph (b) of this section must be carried on board the described vessels, dredges, and floating plants upon the navigable waters of the United States. (d) The radiotelephone required by paragraph (b) of this section must be capable of transmitting and receiving on VHF FM channel 22A (157.1 MHz). (e) While transiting any of the fol- lowing waters, each vessel described in paragraph (a) of this section also must have on board a radiotelephone capable of transmitting and receiving on VHF FM channel 67 (156.375 MHz): (1) The lower Mississippi River from the territorial sea boundary, and with- in either the Southwest Pass safety fairway or the South Pass safety fair- way specified in 33 CFR 166.200, to mile 242.4 AHP (Above Head of Passes) near Baton Rouge; (2) The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet from the territorial sea boundary, and within the Mississippi River-Gulf out- let Safety Fairway specified in 33 CFR 166.200, to that channel’s junction with the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal; and (3) The full length of the Inner Har- bor Navigation Canal from its junction with the Mississippi River to that ca- nal’s entry to Lake Pontchartrain at the New Seabrook vehicular bridge. (f) In addition to the radiotelephone required by paragraph (b) of this sec- tion, each vessel described in para- graph (a) of this section while transiting any waters within a Vessel Traffic Service Area, must have on board a radiotelephone capable of transmitting and receiving on the VTS designated frequency in Table 161.12(c) (VTS and VMRS Centers, Call Signs/ MMSI, Designated Frequencies, and Monitoring Areas). NOTE: A single VHF-FM radio capable of scanning or sequential monitoring (often re- ferred to as ‘‘dual watch’’ capability) will not meet the requirements for two radios. [CGD 91–046, 57 FR 14485, Apr. 21, 1992; 57 FR 21740, May 22, 1992, as amended by CGD 90– 020, 59 FR 36322, July 15, 1994; CGD 95–033, 60 FR 28328, May 31, 1995; CGD 92–052, 61 FR 45325, Aug. 29, 1996; CGD–1999–6141, 64 FR 69635, Dec. 14, 1999; USCG–2003–14757, 68 FR 39364, July 1, 2003] §26.04Use of the designated fre- quency. (a) No person may use the frequency designated by the Federal Communica- tions Commission under section 8 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1207(a), to transmit any information other than informa- tion necessary for the safe navigation of vessels or necessary tests. (b) Each person who is required to maintain a listening watch under sec- tion 5 of the Act shall, when necessary, transmit and confirm, on the des- ignated frequency, the intentions of his VerDate Sep<11>2014 09:08 Aug 14, 2019Jkt 247137PO 00000Frm 00121Fmt 8010Sfmt 8010Y:\SGML\247137.XXX247137 pparker on DSK3GDR082PROD with CFR 4 112 33 CFR Ch. I (7–1–19 Edition) §26.05 vessel and any other information nec- essary for the safe navigation of ves- sels. (c) Nothing in these regulations may be construed as prohibiting the use of the designated frequency to commu- nicate with shore stations to obtain or furnish information necessary for the safe navigation of vessels. (d) On the navigable waters of the United States, channel 13 (156.65 MHz) is the designated frequency required to be monitored in accordance with §26.05(a) except that in the area pre- scribed in §26.03(e), channel 67 (156.375 MHz) is the designated frequency. (e) On those navigable waters of the United States within a VTS area, the designated VTS frequency is an addi- tional designated frequency required to be monitored in accordance with §26.05. (85 Stat. 164; 33 U.S.C. 1201–1208; 49 CFR 1.46(n)(2)) [CGD 71–114R, 37 FR 12720, June 28, 1982, as amended by CGD 83–036, 48 FR 30107, June 30, 1983; CGD 91-046, 57 FR 14486, Apr. 21, 1992; 57 FR 21741, May 22, 1992; CGD 90–020, 59 FR 36323, July 15, 1994; CGD 95–033, 60 FR 28329, May 31, 1995] §26.05Use of radiotelephone. Section 5 of the Act states that the radiotelephone required by this Act is for the exclusive use of the master or person in charge of the vessel, or the person designated by the master or per- son in charge to pilot or direct the movement of the vessel, who shall maintain a listening watch on the des- ignated frequency. Nothing herein shall be interpreted as precluding the use of portable radiotelephone equip- ment to satisfy the requirements of this act. [CGD 93–072, 59 FR 39963, Aug. 5, 1994] §26.06Maintenance of radiotelephone; failure of radiotelephone. Section 6 of the Act states: (a) Whenever radiotelephone capability is required by this Act, a vessel’s radio- telephone equipment shall be maintained in effective operating condition. If the radio- telephone equipment carried aboard a vessel ceases to operate, the master shall exercise due diligence to restore it or cause it to be restored to effective operating condition at the earliest practicable time. The failure of a vessel’s radiotelephone equipment shall not, in itself, constitute a violation of this Act, nor shall it obligate the master of any vessel to moor or anchor his vessel; however, the loss of radiotelephone capability shall be given consideration in the navigation of the vessel. §26.07Communications. No person may use the services of, and no person may serve as, a person required to maintain a listening watch under section 5 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1204, unless the person can commu- nicate in the English language. [CGD 90–020, 59 FR 36323, July 15, 1994, as amended by CGD 95–033, 60 FR 28329, May 31, 1995] §26.08Exemption procedures. (a) The Commandant has redelegated to the Assistant Commandant for Pre- vention Policy, U.S. Coast Guard Head- quarters, with the reservation that this authority shall not be further redele- gated, the authority to grant exemp- tions from provisions of the Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radiotelephone Act and this part. (b) Any person may petition for an exemption from any provision of the Act or this part; (c) Each petition must be submitted in writing to Commandant (CG–DCO– D), Attn: Deputy for Operations Policy and Capabilities, U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7318, 2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20593–7318, and must state: (1) The provisions of the Act or this part from which an exemption is re- quested; and (2) The reasons why marine naviga- tion will not be adversely affected if the exemption is granted and if the ex- emption relates to a local communica- tion system how that system would fully comply with the intent of the concept of the Act but would not con- form in detail if the exemption is granted. [CGD 71–114R, 37 FR 12720, June 28, 1972, as amended by CGD 73–256, 39 FR 9176, Mar. 8, 1974; CGD 88–052, 53 FR 25119, July 1, 1988; CGD 95–057, 60 FR 34150, June 30, 1995; CGD 96–026, 61 FR 33663, June 28, 1996; CGD 97–023, 62 FR 33362, June 19, 1997; USCG–2002–12471, 67 FR 41331, June 18, 2002; USCG–2010–0351, 75 FR 36278, June 25, 2010; USCG–2014–0410, 79 FR 38428, July 7, 2014; USCG-2018-0874, 84 FR 30877, June 28, 2019] VerDate Sep<11>2014 09:08 Aug 14, 2019Jkt 247137PO 00000Frm 00122Fmt 8010Sfmt 8010Y:\SGML\247137.XXX247137 pparker on DSK3GDR082PROD with CFR 5 113 Coast Guard, DHS §26.09List of exemptions. (a)All vessels navigating on those waters governed by the navigation rules for Great Lakes and their con- necting and tributary waters (33 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) are exempt from the require- ments of the Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radiotelephone Act and this part until May 6, 1975. (b)Each vessel navigating on the Great Lakes as defined in the Inland Navigational Rules Act of 1980 (33 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.) and to which the Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radio- telephone Act (33 U.S.C. 1201–1208) ap- plies is exempt from the requirements in 33 U.S.C. 1203, 1204, and 1205 and the regulations under §§26.03, 26.04, 26.05, 26.06, and 26.07. Each of these vessels and each person to whom 33 U.S.C. 1208(a) applies must comply with Arti- cles VII, X, XI, XII, XIII, XV, and XVI and Technical Regulations 1–9 of ‘‘The Agreement Between the United States of America and Canada for Promotion of Safety on the Great Lakes by Means of Radio, 1973.’’ [CGD 72–223R, 37 FR 28633, Dec. 28, 1972, as amended by CGD 74–291, 39 FR 44980, Dec. 30, 1974; CGD 83–003, 48 FR 7442, Feb. 18, 1983; CGD 91–046, 57 FR 14486, Apr. 21, 1992] VerDate Sep<11>2014 09:08 Aug 14, 2019Jkt 247137PO 00000Frm 00123Fmt 8010Sfmt 8010Y:\SGML\247137.XXX247137 pparker on DSK3GDR082PROD with CFR 6