Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Officials targeting charter boats
Coast Guard cracking down on illegal ride-sharing service
FORT LAUDERDALE – The U.S. Coast Guard continues to target charter boats that break the rules and act like an unlicensed ride-sharing service on the high seas.
The Coast Guard terminated the voyage of the 70-foot motor yacht Isabella, with six passengers aboard, Wednesday. It was moored at Lauderdale Marina, 1900 SE 15th St., in Fort Lauderdale, and it was not the first time the vessel was stopped for conducting an illegal charter, according to the Coast Guard.
“Our top priority is the safety of mariners and people who take to the sea, and illegal charters violate that safety,” said Capt. Michael Fazio, staff judge advocate at Coast Guard 7th District.
Owners and operators of illegal charter vessels can face fines of more than $59,000 for illegal passenger-for-hire operations, officials said.
They have to comply with the federal Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993 which, among other things, requires the proper licensing, certification, insurance and equipment for owners and operators of charter boats.
Capt. Dag Hanssen, who operates the Odin charter service on the New River in Fort Lauderdale, says illegal charters can take business away from legitimate operations.
“All these other people, they take my potential customers and do nothing on their boat,” he said.
In March, crews from the Coast Guard station in Fort Lauderdale stopped four illegal charter boats at Haulover Inlet and on the Miami River in Miami-Dade.
“We want to remind people they have the right to ask to see the captain’s credentials, inspection certificates and ask for the vessel safety plan,” Fazio said in a statement. “You put your life at risk and in danger when you get underway on a vessel without a properly credentialed mariner, and that risk isn’t worth your life.”