COAST GUARD TO DEVELOP BARGE NUMBERING SYSTEM

COAST GUARD TO DEVELOP BARGE NUMBERING SYSTEM U.S. Coast Guard wants to develop a number system to help it identify operators who abandoned their barges in the country’s waterways.
   To do that, the Coast Guard plans to create a required numbering system for all barges of more than 100 gross tons. The Coast Guard has the authority to create the numbering system under the 1992 Abandoned Barge Act.
   The numbering system “will help identify those parties who may be held liable for the removal and proper disposal of any hazardous substances stored or deposited on board abandoned barges, as well as for the removal of the barges from the nation’s waterways,” the Coast Guard said. “This potential for liability would serve as a deterrent to barge abandonment.”
   Operators have abandoned hundreds of barges over the years for a variety of reasons, such as bankruptcy or death of the owner. “Without a process linking abandoned vessels to responsible parties, the government has little chance of recovering vessel removal or pollution response costs,” the agency said.
   The Coast Guard said it would take comments from the industry regarding the proposed numbering system through April 11. For more information, contact LCDR Robyn MacGregor, project manager for the Coast Guard’s Office of Waterways Security and Safety at (202) 267-0483.