{"id":49740,"date":"2025-07-08T21:48:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/49740\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T21:48:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:48:11","slug":"coast-guard-stops-illegal-charter-of-25-foot-vessel-on-st-johns-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/49740\/","title":{"rendered":"Coast Guard stops illegal charter of 25-foot vessel on St. Johns River"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville ended the voyage of an illegal vessel traveling on the St. Johns River on Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">A Coast Guard Station Mayport boat crew boarded a 25-foot unregistered recreational vessel and learned the vessel was being operated with passengers for hire.<\/p>\n<p>A U.S. Coast Guard Station Mayport boat crew terminates the voyage of an illegal charter vessel operating on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, July 4, 2025. The 25-foot unregistered recreational vessel was cited for failure to have a credentialed mariner in control while operating as an uninspected passenger vessel and failure to have a drug and alcohol program. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)  (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Officials said the owner was issued a Captain of the Port order preventing commercial vessel operations until in compliance with all applicable federal laws and regulations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The violations include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>46 CFR 15.605 \u2013 Failure to have a credentialed mariner in control while operating as an uninspected passenger vessel.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>46 CFR 16.201 \u2013 Failure to have a drug and alcohol program.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThe Coast Guard will take decisive action against any operator who puts lives at risk by ignoring passenger vessel safety regulations,\u201d Cmdr. William Hickey said, chief of prevention operations, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil\/Our-Organization\/District-7\/Units\/Sector-Jacksonville\/Prevention-Department\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sector Jacksonville<\/a>. \u201cMariners operating charter vessels must follow regulatory safety standards and understand the consequences of violations, as these rules exist to protect passengers, crews and the maritime public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The Coast Guard urged anyone paying for a trip on a vessel to make sure the captain has a safety plan and a Merchant Mariner Credential.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Ask to see a Coast Guard-issued Certificate of Inspection for larger charter boats or those with more than six passengers. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">If the operator can\u2019t show these credentials, you should not get on the boat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Officials said owners and operators of illegal charter vessels can face civil penalties of over $60,000 for illegal operations. Charters that violate a Captain of the Port Order can face a maximum penalty of $111,031.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Some potential fines for illegally operating a charter vessel are:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Up to $22,324 for failure to operate a passenger vessel without a merchant mariner credential.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Up to $19,324 for failure to produce a valid Certificate of Documentation for vessels over five net tons.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Up to $9,086 for failure of operators to be enrolled in a drug testing program.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Up to $5,661 for failure to provide a Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection for vessels carrying more than six passengers.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville ended the voyage of an illegal vessel traveling on the St.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,31004,3188,723,7310,14639,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-49740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-coast-guard","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-st-johns-river","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114819819368140375","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}