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If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of TRICO MARINE OPERATORS, INC. ) ) For Exemption from Section 80.1095 ) of the Commission's Rules ) ORDER Adopted: August 3, 1999 Released: August 5, 1999 By the Chief, Public Safety and Private Wireless Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau: I. INTRODUCTION 1. In this Order, we address a request for exemption from Section 80.1095 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  80.1095, implementing the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), filed by Trico Marine Operators, Inc. (TMO). For the reasons discussed herein, we deny TMO's request for exemption. II. BACKGROUND 2. The GMDSS is an automated ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship distress alerting and communications system that relies on satellite and advanced terrestrial data and voice communications systems. The GMDSS is intended to significantly enhance the safety of life and property at sea throughout the world. It is the result of more than a decade of effort by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In 1988, the IMO adopted amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention to fully implement the GMDSS internationally by February 1, 1999. In 1992, the Commission implemented the GMDSS for United States vessels by requiring that the vessels are equipped with a full complement of GMDSS equipment by February 1, 1999. 3. By letter dated September 5, 1996, TMO requested an exemption of Section 80.1095 of the Commission's Rules. In brief, TMO wishes to be relieved from the requirements to carry two portable (handheld) VHF radios and a 9 GHz radar transponder (SART) on any vessels in its fleet of Offshore Supply Vessels (OSVs) which exceed 300 gross tons. Section 80.1095 requires placing this equipment in survival craft, or in such locations that it can be rapidly placed in survival craft. TMO submits that its vessels are restricted to operation in the Gulf of Mexico not over 200 miles from land. TMO also states that the vessels have ample equipment on board to provide for safe voyages. 4. In support of its exemption request, TMO solicited support from the U.S. Coast Guard. We received two letters from the U.S. Coast Guard. The first letter, dated October 28, 1996, stated that the Gulf of Mexico was an area of high commercial traffic and that there was ample availability of rapid emergency services to create a relatively safe operating environment. The 1996 Letter further stated, "that the 9 GHz radar transponder and portable radios intended for survival craft provide[d] no meaningful or necessary additional safety for OSVs operating solely in the Gulf of Mexico." 5. Subsequently, however, we received a second letter dated November 25, 1997, from the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, recommending denial of TMO's request, based on a letter dated October 29, 1997, from the Commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District. The Eighth Coast Guard District's Search and Rescue Division conducted additional research on the required 9 GHz SART and handheld VHF radios. Based on this evaluation, the Eighth Coast Guard District determined that: the required 9 GHz SARTs and handheld radios have great value in assisting search and rescue resources in locating and recovering survivors in the aftermath of a marine casualty. Both the 9 GHz SART and VHF handheld radios are small, portable and sufficiently waterproof to be of significant value in facilitating a vessel abandonment and subsequent rescue (even on vessels equipped with buoyant apparatus as their primary lifesaving equipment). Within the Gulf of Mexico, oil and gas exploration and production facilities are increasingly moving into deep water farther from shore and more removed from search and rescue assets. This fact provides additional justification for retaining the required 9 GHz SARTs and handheld VHF radios. III. DISCUSSION 6. Section 80.1071 of the Commission's Rules permits exemptions to ships from specific GMDSS rules, provided there is no material effect on the general efficiency of the service for the safety of all ships. Section 80.1071 also provides that an exemption is warranted only when conditions affecting safety are such as to render the full applicability of certain enumerated GMDSS rules "unreasonable, unnecessary or not in the public interest." Section 80.1095 of the Rules is not one of the enumerated rules for which an exemption may be granted, and therefore, we believe, on this basis alone, TMO's request for exemption should be denied. 7. Furthermore, we are not persuaded that having other unspecified communications equipment on board constitutes a sufficient reason for exempting the vessels from the GMDSS requirements particularly in light of the most recent correspondence we received from the USCG on this matter. The Coast Guard's statement confirms that the overriding public interest in marine safety negates any inconvenience that TMO might suffer in securing and safeguarding the SARTs and VHF handheld equipment. Moreover, both the SOLAS Convention and the Commission's Rules deem survival craft equipment to be essential in addition to the other equipment required for full GMDSS rule compliance. IV. CONCLUSION 8. In sum, Section 80.1071 does not authorize exemptions from Section 80.1095. In addition, we find it is not unreasonable, unnecessary or otherwise not in the public interest to require the OSVs to conform to the Commission's GMDSS requirements. In fact, we believe that compliance with such requirements is critical to assuring the safety of TMO vessels and the ships that may have the occasion to communicate with them during an emergency or crisis. Therefore, we find that an exemption of the survival craft requirements would have a material effect on the general efficiency of the service for the safety of all ships. Accordingly, the exemption requested by TMO is denied. V. ORDERING CLAUSES 9. For the reasons set forth above, IT IS ORDERED that pursuant to Section 4(i) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  154(i), and Section 80.1701 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  80.1071, the request of Trico Marine Operators, Inc., filed on September 5, 1996, for an exemption of Section 80.1095 of the Commission's Rules IS DENIED. 10. This action is taken under delegated authority pursuant to Sections 0.131 and 0.331 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.131, 0.331. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION D'wana R. Terry Chief, Public Safety and Private Wireless Division Wireless Telecommunications Bureau