46 U.S.C. § 4102 — Safety equipment

(a) Every uninspected vessel powered by machinery must have the number, type, and size of fire extinguishers set by regulation. They must be able to quickly and effectively put out burning liquid fuel, be ready for immediate and effective use, and be easy to reach. (b) The Secretary must issue regulations requiring uninspected vessels to install, maintain, and use life preservers and other lifesaving devices for people aboard. (c) Each engine of an uninspected vessel, other than an outboard motor, that uses gasoline must have its carburetor equipped with an efficient flame arrestor, backfire trap, or similar device required by regulation. (d) An uninspected vessel using a volatile liquid fuel must have the regulatory equipment needed to ventilate the engine and fuel-tank bilges properly and efficiently and remove explosive or flammable gases. (e) Each manned, United States-owned uninspected vessel operating more than 3 nautical miles from the baselines used to measure the United States territorial sea, or more than 3 nautical miles from the Great Lakes coastline, must have the alerting and locating equipment, including emergency position-indicating radio beacons, that the Secretary prescribes. (f) (1) After consulting the National Towing Safety Advisory Committee and considering towing vessels’ characteristics, operating methods, and services, the Secretary may require fire-suppression systems or other measures that give adequate assurance that fires aboard towing vessels can be suppressed in reasonably foreseeable circumstances. (f) (2) Under paragraph (1), the Secretary must require a fire-suppression system or other measures that give adequate assurance that a fire aboard a towing vessel towing a non-self-propelled tank vessel can be suppressed in reasonably foreseeable circumstances.