§ 1.01-20 Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection.

(a) Officers in Charge, Marine Inspection (OCMI), have been designated and delegated to perform, within each OCMI's jurisdiction, the following functions: Inspection of vessels in order to determine that they comply with the applicable laws, rules, and regulations relating to safe construction, equipment, manning, and operation and that they are in a seaworthy condition for the services in which they are operated; shipyard and factory inspections; the investigation of marine casualties and accidents; the licensing, certificating, shipment and discharge of seamen; the investigating and initiating of action in cases of misconduct, negligence, or incompetence of merchant marine officers or seamen; and the enforcement of vessel inspection, navigation, and seamen's laws in general. Specific procedures for appealing the decisions of the Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection, or of his subordinates are set forth in 46 CFR parts 1 to 4.

(b) The Commanding Officer of the National Maritime Center has been designated and delegated the same authority as an OCMI for the purpose of carrying out the following marine safety functions pursuant to the provisions of 46 CFR Subchapter B:

(1) Licensing, credentialing, certificating, shipment and discharge of seamen;

(2) Referring to the processing Regional Examination Center (REC), the Suspension and Revocation National Center of Expertise, or cognizant OCMI potential violations of law, negligence, misconduct, unskillfulness, incompetence or misbehavior of persons holding merchant mariner's documents, licenses, certificates or credentials issued by the Coast Guard, and recommending suspension or revocation under 46 U.S.C. Chapter 77 when deemed appropriate; and

(3) Granting, withholding, suspending, or withdrawing course approvals.

[CGFR 48–72, 13 FR 9330, Dec. 31, 1948, as amended by USCG–1998–3799, 63 FR 35525, June 30, 1998; USCG–2006–25535, 72 FR 7929, Feb. 22, 2007; USCG–2009–0314, 74 FR 30937, June 29, 2009]