Can/Will the Coast Guard pull your Charter License?

[PvtStash]

Hellohello , I've been reading "ShadowDivers" and "Last Dive" and had a question about the Coast Guard and their ability to pull a captain's liscense if they deem it nescessary.

Having a Coast Guard crew gear up and fly out to pick up divers in distress must be very expensive..., if a particular Captain "gets a rep" for divers getting hurt/killed on his boat will/Can the Coast Guard (or any agency) take/temporarily suspend said Captains liscense?

 

[Jim Ernst]

Hellohello , I've been reading "ShadowDivers" and "Last Dive" and had a question about the Coast Guard and their ability to pull a captain's liscense if they deem it nescessary.

Having a Coast Guard crew gear up and fly out to pick up divers in distress must be very expensive..., if a particular Captain "gets a rep" for divers getting hurt/killed on his boat will/Can the Coast Guard (or any agency) take/temporarily suspend said Captains liscense?

I do believe " Yes" If Negligence is found, And I will check tomorrow with my brother as he is a LT-Commander in the US Coast-Guard, And I also have a couple questions for him about a boat for hire for divers with a CAPT with no CAPT license.

 

[Jim Kerr]

if a particular Captain "gets a rep" for divers getting hurt/killed on his boat will/Can the Coast Guard (or any agency) take/temporarily suspend said Captains liscense?

Other than leaving a diver behind, how would the Capt be responsible for a diver getting hurt or killed? Most diving accidents are caused by either diver error, gear failier or a medical problem. I do think though that if a particular boat had reoccuring incidents it would raise some eyebrows and would probably be investigated to find out what's going on, not to mention lack of ridership.

 

[PvtStash]

Other than leaving a diver behind, how would the Capt be responsible for a diver getting hurt or killed? Most diving accidents are caused by either diver error, gear failier or a medical problem. I do think though that if a particular boat had reoccuring incidents it would raise some eyebrows and would probably be investigated to find out what's going on, not to mention lack of ridership.

I'm not saying he Would be responsible... , just wondering if there were any possible ramifications other than "raised eyebrows".

If there were an Investigation who would perform it? Coast Guard? Local Law Enforcement? some other agency?

 

[Tom Winters]

What happens when a captain in a particular geographic area really does something negligent enough to involve law enforcement is that he/she gets fired and is pretty much blackballed. Getting hired anywhere else gets difficult also since most places kinda want to have any idea of a captain's pedigree before they turn the helm over to a stranger. Even when a captain I knew left a customer underwater to drown and returned to port, his license was suspended for just six months. PADI quietly wrote a huge check to settle that claim.
If the captain is driving a boat that has fatalities not related to his/her performance, they're ok. I guess it would get pretty old though the second time you brought in a tarped client back to port.
Also, it's the licensing arm of the USCG that administratively deals with all issues of license issuance and revocation.

 

[PvtStash]

Ok so it seems like the Coast Guard Does have the authority to issue/revoke liscenses, and that in addition to this the Industry does a good job at policing itself (in the sense that in such a relatively small community the "word gets out" and Divers stop showing up on the Captains boat, or he gets fired and possibly has difficulty being re-hired), AND apparently the regulating agency can/will get involved as well? (PADI, etc?)

Does anyone get a bill for the Coast Guard services? (or is it assumed paid for already by our taxes?) will DAN insurance pay for transportation services (Coast Guard or otherwise) or just the medical expenses? (chamer ride, medication, emergency personel)