Mask requirement for all public maritime vessels

03 Feb 2021 / United States

Executive Order (13998), Promoting COVID-19 Safety in Domestic and International Travel requires masks be worn on all “public maritime vessels, including ferries” to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued order, Requirement for Persons to Wear Masks while on Transportation Hubs, 29JAN2021, requires all persons travelling on all commercial vessels to wear a mask.

This Order requires conveyance operators to use best efforts to ensure that any person on the conveyance wears a mask when boarding, disembarking, and for the duration of travel. Depending on the circumstances, best efforts may include:
- boarding only those persons who wear masks;
- instructing persons that Federal law requires wearing a mask on the conveyance and failure to comply constitutes a violation of Federal law;
- monitoring persons on board the conveyance for anyone who is not wearing a mask and seeking compliance from such persons;
- at the earliest opportunity, disembarking any person who refuses to comply;
- providing persons with prominent and adequate notice to facilitate awareness and compliance of the requirement of this Order to wear a mask; best practices may include, if feasible, advanced notifications on digital platforms, such as on apps, websites, or email; posted signage in multiple languages with illustrations; printing the requirement on transit tickets; or other methods as appropriate…

…Owners, operators, and crew of vessels that fail to implement the mask wearing order above may be subject to civil or criminal penalties from the CDC. Furthermore, based on the scientific determination of the CDC, the Coast Guard finds that failure to wear a mask creates an undue safety risk by increasing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 between passengers, the crew of the vessel, and port operators... …Vessels that have not implemented the mask requirement may be issued a Captain of the Port (COTP) order directing the vessel’s movement and operations; repeated failure to impose the mask mandate could result in civil penalties and/or criminal action…

…State, local, Tribal, and territorial laws or rules imposing public health measures that are more protective of public health than those required by the CDC, are an acceptable equivalency for these requirements. Vessel operators who believe local mask wearing requirements fit this exemption should contact the local COTP.

(For information about operations in the United States, contact GAC North America at [email protected])

Source: United States Coast Guard Marine Safety Information Bulletin SEC VA MSIB #36-21 dated 2 February 2021

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