NASBLA Roundtable

Greetings All,

Hope everyone is doing well! 

Curious as to how your state ensures the safety/seaworthiness of recreational boats. I.e. is insurance required for registration, is a safety check required for registration, etc?

I am curious, as some of the refueling incidents that have taken place this summer have started conversations among stakeholders about how to ensure the safety/seaworthiness of vessels on the water. Anyway, I'm curious about how your state handles this and the pros/cons of each approach.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your input and insights.

Best, 

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Chad Tokowicz
Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
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Ohio DNR Division of Parks & Watercraft employees do not conduct seaworthiness inspections of vessels. We advise boaters to find a credentialed marine surveyor.

Our officers will conduct vessel safety checks which involves identifying and recording the vessel operator information, vessel identification/ownership information, and all the required vessel safety equipment for that vessel (based on length and type of vessel). These VSCs are offered free of cost to the boaters on a voluntary basis or will be conducted during violation-related stops/incidents.

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Cindy Bellar
Boating Law Administrator
Ohio DNR Div. of Parks & Watercraft
614-265-6504
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In New Mexico each State Park has LE Ranger checking boat inspections for equipment and some parks have Game and Fish aquatic check stations, but they do not do equipment checks. As far as fueling if at the Marina they will not get checked and most fill before arriving to the park. Most of the Marina personal have been trained to explain to the boaters that they need to run the fans after fueling inboard boats. Some of the Parks on Holiday weekends will have someone doing boat inspections at the ramp before entering the lakes.    

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Manny SANCHEZ
(EMNRD)New Mexico State Parks
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