After sharpening the fishermen at-sea safety skills the Coast Guard now wants to build on that knowledge with additional training in vessel stability. It is informed that the Coast Guard is sponsoring six, free training sessions across the Northeast that will teach fishing vessel owners and their crews stability principles and best practices that can help prevent vessels from flooding, sinking or capsizing.
This new training is said to start in New Bedford on Tuesday, to prevent fishing deaths in the Northeast region, which has averaged about four fishing deaths each year since 2005. Coast Guard Lt. Jennifer Haag, who is coordinating the program, said that they want to help them recognize potential stability issues that can arise throughout a vessel’s voyage, whether it is at the pier, in transit, or engaged in fishing.
The Coast Guard informed that the current regulations require only certain vessels to undergo stability tests, including those that are 79 feet or more in length and constructed or substantially altered after September 1991. The New Bedford vessel stability training session will be held on Tuesday, from 8 a.m. to noon, at UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology. The format of the vessel stability program, called the Upright & Watertight Stability at Sea Symposium, will include a combination of classroom instruction, hands-on exercises, video and physical model demonstrations.
