Coast Guard Makes Change to COVID-19 Requirements | WorkBoat
The Coast Guard has published Marine Safety Information Bulletin 02-21 Change 3 (“Covid-19 Safety Requirements in the Maritime Transportation System”) which allows mariners on “non-passenger-carrying commercial vessels operated by a team of mariners who all live on the vessel” to be exempt from mask-wearing requirements.
A mask will still be required when the vessel receives persons who are not a part of the crew that live on the vessel.
The previous guidance regarding the enforcement of mask wear in outdoor areas remains in effect. Though the CDC is no longer requiring mask wear in outdoor areas, operators of conveyances and transportation hubs, at their discretion, may require masks to be worn in outdoor areas. An outdoor area on a vessel is a space that is permanently open to the weather on one or more sides and, if covered by a deck or canopy, any spot on the overhead less than 15 feet from the nearest opening. This updated guidance does not supersede any federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations that still require the wearing of masks in outdoor areas of conveyances and while outdoors on transportation hubs.