Title 46—Shipping--Volume 1
PART 307—ESTABLISHMENT OF MANDATORY POSITION REPORTING SYSTEM FOR VESSELS
§ 307.1   Purpose.
This part establishes that operators of U.S.-flag oceangoing vessels in U.S. foreign trade and certain foreign-flag vessels as described in 46 U.S.C. 1283 must report on their locations according to the provisions of this regulation to enhance the safety of vessel operations at sea and provide a contingency for events of national emergency.
§ 307.3   Definitions.
As used in this part:
(a) Administrator means the Maritime Administrator of the Department of Transportation.
(b) MARAD means the Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.
(c) Coast Guard means the United States Coast Guard, Department of Transportation.
(d) AMVER means the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System operated by the U.S. Coast Guard as it applies to U.S.-flag ships and certain non-U.S.-flag ships in U.S. foreign commerce under this regulation.
§ 307.5   Provisions of general applicability.
(a) The following operators must comply with the reporting requirements contained in this part:
(1) Operators of United States-flag vessels of one thousand gross tons or more, operating in the foreign commerce of the United States.
(2) Operators of foreign-flag vessels of one thousand gross tons, or more, for which an Interim War Risk Insurance Binder has been issued under the provisions of Title XII, Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended (46 U.S.C. 1281 et seq. ).
(b) Operators of other merchant vessels may choose to submit reports and have voyage information forwarded to MARAD, when approved by the Coast Guard and MARAD. Information voluntarily provided by them will be released by Coast Guard only for safety purposes or to satisfy certain advance notification requirements of 33 CFR part 160. Requests should be addressed to the Maritime Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, Attn: MAR-742.
§ 307.7   Information required in report.
(a) Types of reports. Reports on vessel departure, arrival, position and deviation are required under this part. Sailing plans are optional, and may be sent prior to departure, or may be combined with departure reports.
(b) Report content. Content of each type of required report are specified below. Note that the word “MAREP” must be included in the text of each message if MARAD is to receive the information.
(1) Sailing plan report. Sailing plan reports, though optional, must contain the following:
(i) Vessel name,
(ii) International Radio Call Sign,
(iii) Intended time of departure,
(iv) Port of departure and latitude/longitude,
(v) Port of destination and latitude/longitude,
(vi) Estimated time of arrival,
(vii) Route information, and
(viii) The keyword “MAREP”.
(2) Departure report. Departure reports must contain the following:
(i) Vessel name,
(ii) International Radio Call Sign,
(iii) Time of departure,
(iv) Port of departure,
(v) Latitude and longitude, and
(vi) The keyword “MAREP”.
(3) Position report. Position reports must contain the following:
(i) Vessel name,
(ii) International Radio Call Sign,
(iii) Time at reported position,
(iv) Latitude and longitude, and
(v) The keyword “MAREP”.
(4) Deviation report. Deviation reports are necessary to report sailing plan changes or other changes and must contain the following:
(i) Vessel name,
(ii) International Radio Call Sign,
(iii) The changes to prior reports, and
(iv) The keyword “MAREP”.
(5) Arrival report. Arrival reports must contain the following:
(i) Vessel name,
(ii) International Radio Call Sign,
(iii) Port name,
(iv) Latitude and longitude,
(v) Time of arrival, and
(vi) The keyword “MAREP”.
§ 307.9   When to report.
(a) Operators required to report under this regulation shall send reports during the Radio Officer's normal duty hours.
(b) Operators shall send reports as follows:
(1) Departure Reports must be sent as soon as practicable upon leaving the Port of Departure.
(2) Position Reports must be sent within twenty-four hours of departure, and subsequently, no less frequently that every forty-eight hours until arrival.
(3) Arrival Reports must be sent immediately prior to or upon arrival at the Port of Destination.
(4) Deviation Reports may be sent at the discretion of the vessel operator. Reports may be sent more frequently than the above schedule, as, for example, in heavy weather or under other adverse conditions.
§ 307.11   Report changes.
The Administrator, through MARAD advisory or special warning, may direct changes in reporting frequency and specify particular information to be included in the comments section of AMVER messages.
§ 307.13   Where to report.
To ensure that no charge is applied, all AMVER reports must be passed through specified radio stations. Those stations which currently accept AMVER reports and apply no coastal station, ship station, or landline charge are listed in each issue of the “AMVER Bulletin” publication, together with respective International Radio Call Sign, location, frequency bands, and hours of operation. The “AMVER Bulletin” is available from AMVER Maritime Relations Office, U.S. Coast Guard, Battery Park Building, New York, NY 10004. Although AMVER reports may be sent through other stations, the Coast Guard cannot reimburse the sender for any charges applied.
§ 307.15   Release of information from reports.
(a) The information collected under these instructions will be released to recognized search-and-rescue authorities, to make advance notice to the U.S. Coast Guard of arrival in U.S. ports as required by certain sections of 33 CFR. The information collected will also be forwarded to the MARAD.
(b) AMVER reports will remain voluntary for foreign ships unless otherwise directed by their governments, and will be kept strictly confidential by the U.S. Coast Guard. Information collected from such foreign ships will not be forwarded to MARAD.
(c) any information provided in the remarks line will be stored in AMVER's automatic data processing system for later review. However, no immediate action will be taken, nor will the information be routinely passed to other organizations. The remarks line cannot be used as a substitute for sending information to other search-and-rescue authorities or organizations. However, AMVER will, at the request of other SAR authorities, forward remarks line information to the requesting agencies.
§ 307.17   Distress messages and hostile action reports.
(a) AMVER reports shall not replace distress messages and hostile action reports prescribed by Chapter 5, Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) Publication 117.
(b) Vessel owners or operators subject to this part shall summarize distress messages or hostile action reports in the comments sections of AMVER reports.
§ 307.19   Penalties.
The owner or operator of a vessel in the waterborne foreign commerce of the United States is subject to a penalty of $166 for each day of failure to file an AMVER report required by this part. Such penalty shall constitute a lien upon the vessel, and such vessel may be libeled in the district court of the United States in which the vessel may be found.