crack down/unlicensed trips

[Lee Borgersen]

On Lake Superior, other northern Minnesota waters, Coast Guard plans to crack down on unlicensed trips.


July 23, 2018    

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Duluth, Minn. — The U.S. Coast Guard announced this week that it would be stepping up enforcement measures to stop boat operators from illegally taking passengers for hire without the proper licenses on Lake Superior and other waters of northern Minnesota.

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Apparently, a similar enforcement campaign last year on the Chicago-area waters of Lake Michigan found that 50 percent of the stopped vessels were being operated illegally, according to a Coast Guard press release.

Asked if the Coast Guard believed an elevated number of violations also were occurring on Lake Superior, Lt. Abbie Lyons, out of the Coast Guard’s Duluth station, said, “I don’t know if elevated is necessarily what is going on.”

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But Coast Guard personnel recently have run into rule violators on Lake of the Woods, Lyons said.

The law states that operators who take paying passengers are considered to be a commercial vessel and must be operated by a mariner with Coast Guard credentials. Doing so without the required documents and credentials is a violation of federal law, according to the Coast Guard. Violators are subject to criminal or civil liability.

“It’s a safety issue,” Lyons said. “If you have friends out, that’s fine. But if you’re accepting payment to take folks out on your boat, you need to be licensed.”

Capt. Parker Bambenek, of Superior Pursuits Charter Fishing out of Duluth’s Lakehead Boat Basin, said he’s heard rumors of some violators.

“From my perspective, it’s a problem even if there is only one guy running unlicensed trips,” Bambenek said. “It’s big water. This is not a joke. We jump through a lot of hoops to become legal. Safety is the No. 1 concern. Anyone can go out there and catch fish. People are putting their lives in your hands.”

Lyons said there are some people who may feel they don’t need to bother with the training necessary to become properly licensed.

“It is pretty in-depth,” she said of the training. “It’s tricky because so many people have grown up on the lakes, and they feel safe out there. But there are things you don’t learn just having those skills passed down from family members. There are certain rules of the road, how to talk on the radio, enter and exit channels, all kinds of things you learn when you get a license. It makes it safer for everybody, including your passengers.”

The Coast Guard recommends that people looking to hire a charter ask the operator in advance for proof that the vessel is compliant with Coast Guard requirements.

The Coast Guard says passengers have the right to see the captain’s license and to ensure the vessel and captain are certified.

Lyons said charter boats taking up to six customers – not including the captain or hired help – need only what is known as the “six-pack,” or the OUPV: “operator of uninspected passenger vessel.”

“If it is more than (six people), they need a certificate of inspection,” Lyons said.

Lyons said the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Unit in Duluth can administer the testing necessary to become a credentialed mariner.

Bambenek said he paid about $1,200 for his six-pack license, which is good for five years before it is required to be renewed. One of the requirements for the license is having logged 360 days on the water.

Lyons said the focused enforcement effort would continue all summer and beyond.