d. Submersibles 100 gross tons or more 

 carrying passengers; 



e. Submersibles 300 gross tons or more; 



f. Any submersible carrying combustible or 

 flammable liquid in bulk; 



g. Any submersible carrying dangerous 

 cargo. 



The standards to be met are based upon 

 the Coast Guard's background of engineering 

 talent, which additionally draws from U.S. 

 Navy and American Bureau of Shipping 

 certification requirements and the proce- 

 dures outlined in the Marine Technology So- 

 ciety's guidelines for undersea vehicles. The 

 proposed civilian use of ex-military subma- 

 rines for under-ice surveys in the Arctic 

 would fall under this category. 



SEARCH AND RESCUE 

 RESPONSIBILITIES 



Contrary to its present limited role in sub- 

 mersible certification, the Coast Guard has 

 the sole responsibility for search and rescue 

 of civilian submersibles. Though presently 

 limited in its own undersea rescue capability, 

 the Coast Guard may request assistance 

 from the U.S. Armed Forces under the gen- 

 eral concepts of a National Search and Res- 

 cue Plan referred to as SAR. This plan is a 

 federal inter-agency agreement established 

 to assure coordinated response among fed- 

 eral agencies in the event of a search and 

 rescue emergency. Briefly, it works as de- 

 scribed below. 



There is a Coast Guard Rescue Control 

 Center (RCC) in each of its 12 districts, and 

 within each district are several SAR sta- 

 tions. The operators of a submersible in dis- 

 tress contact the nearest SAR station on 

 2182 kHz or 156.8 MHz and informs it of the 

 nature, location, etc., of the emergency. The 

 SAR station begins taking immediate action 

 with whatever assets it has on hand, and 

 concurrently informs the RCC within its dis- 

 trict. In the event that the need arises for 

 underwater rescue calling for assets beyond 

 those of the Coast Guard, the RCC requests 

 assistance from Chief of Naval Operations 

 (CNO) who provides such through the Navy's 

 Supervisor of Salvage (SUPSAL). An on- 

 scene commander (OSC) is designated by 

 CNO to carry out rescue procedures as he 

 sees fit. 



As one step in expediting safe civilian sub- 

 mersible operations, the Coast Guard estab- 

 lished a voluntary reporting system to: 1) 

 Provide immediate infoi-mation to their Res- 

 cue Coordination Centers in the event of an 

 emergency; 2) lessen the possibility of incor- 

 rectly identifying the submersible as a for- 

 eign naval submarine; 3) prevent undersea 

 conflicts with other surface or subsurface 

 vessels in the area of operation; and 4) pro- 

 vide the general maritime community with 

 notice that such operations are being con- 

 ducted. 



In a notice to all owners, manufacturers 

 and operators of civilian submersibles, dated 

 11 August 1967, the Coast Guard Comman- 

 dant asked for cooperation in providing to 

 the nearest Coast Guard District Com- 

 mander the following information prior to 

 commencement of each operation: 



a. General submersible description; 



b. Operations area, surface and sub- 

 merged; 



c. Dates and times of start and termina- 

 tion of operation; 



d. Any special methods of warning surface 

 ships of surfacing intentions; 



e. If surface craft accompanying, give gen- 

 eral description of such; 



f. Emergency communications capability 

 of support ship and submersible; 



g. Information helpful in event of distress, 

 e.g., escape capability, life support dura- 

 tion, flotation gear and location aids 

 aboard submersible. 



According to Lieutenant R. Pyzer, USCG 

 (personal communication), response to this 

 request was excellent initially, but has grad- 

 ually become a "sometime thing" in all but 

 military-owned and federally-leased vehicles. 

 With the recent JOHNSON SEA LINK and 

 PISCES III incidents (see Chapter 14), how- 

 ever, compliance with this request has in- 

 creased in the private sector. 



MARSAP 



An acronym for Mutual Assistance Rescue 

 and Salvage Plan, MARSAP is an attempt by 

 industry's owners of submersibles to be able 

 to render assistance to a distressed submers- 

 ible. The MARSAP report and recommenda- 



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