(a) Licensed officers are required to acquaint themselves with the latest information published by the Coast Guard and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency regarding aids to navigation, and neglect to do so is evidence of neglect of duty. It is desirable that vessels navigating oceans and coastwise and Great Lakes water shall have available in the pilothouse for convenient reference at all times a file of the applicable Notice to Mariners.

(b) Local Notices to Mariners, published by each U.S. Coast Guard District, contain announcements and information on changes in aids to navigation and other marine information affecting the safety of navigation on oceans and coastwise and the Great Lakes. These notices may be obtained free of charge from the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center Web site found at http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName = lnmMain.

(c) Weekly Notices to Mariners (worldwide coverage) are prepared jointly by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Ocean Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard. They include changes in aids to navigation and other important navigation safety information in assembled form for U.S. waters. Foreign marine information is also included in these notices. These notices are available without charge from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Web site found at http://msi.nga.mil/NGAPortal/MSI.portal.

(d) As appropriate for the intended voyage, all vessels must carry adequate and up-to-date:

(1) Charts;

(2) Sailing directions;

(3) Coast pilots;

(4) Light lists;

(5) Notices to mariners;

(6) Tide tables;

(7) Current tables; and

(8) All other nautical publications necessary. 1

The master of every tankship shall, whenever leaving port, enter the maximum draft of his vessel in the logbook.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, after loading and prior to departure and at all other times necessary to assure the safety of the vessel, the master or person in charge shall determine that the vessel complies with all applicable stability requirements in the vessel's trim and stability book, stability letter, Certificate of Inspection, and Load Line Certificate, as the case may be. The vessel may not depart until it is in compliance with these requirements.

(b) When determining compliance with applicable stability requirements the vessel's draft, trim, and stability must be determined as necessary.

(c) If a log book is required by § 35.07-5, then the master or person in charge must enter an attestation statement verifying that the vessel complies with the applicable stability requirements at the times specified in paragraph (a) and any stability calculations made in support of the determination must be retained on board the vessel for the duration of the voyage.

(d) Stability verification is not required for tank barges whose Certificate of Inspection carries draft restrictions for purposes other than stability.

On all tankships making voyages of more than 48 hours' duration, the entire steering gear, the whistle, the means of communication, and the signaling appliances between the bridge or pilothouse and engineroom shall be examined and tested by a licensed officer of the vessel within a period of not more than 12 hours before leaving port. All such vessels making voyages of less than 48 hours' duration or operating on lakes, bays, sounds, and rivers shall be so examined and tested at least once in every week. The fact and time of such examination and test shall be recorded in the ship's logbook.

Nothing in this part shall exonerate any master or officer in command from the consequences of any neglect to keep a proper lookout or the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen or by the special circumstances of the case.

No person shall flash, or cause to be flashed, the rays of a search light or other blinding light onto the bridge or into the pilothouse of any vessel under way.

The unnecessary sounding of a vessel's whistle is prohibited within any harbor limits of the United States.

For each ocean and coastwise tankship of 1,600 gross tons or over, the following apply:

(a) The following maneuvering information must be prominently displayed in the pilothouse on a fact sheet:

(1) For full and half speed, a turning circle diagram to port and starboard that shows the time and the distance of advance and transfer required to alter the course 90 degrees with maximum rudder angle and constant power settings.

(2) The time and distance to stop the vessel from full and half speed while maintaining approximately the initial heading with minimum application of rudder.

(3) For each vessel with a fixed propeller, a table of shaft revolutions per minute for a representative range of speeds.

(4) For each vessel with a controllable pitch propeller a table of control settings for a representative range of speeds.

(5) For each vessel that is fitted with an auxiliary device to assist in maneuvering, such as a bow thruster, a table of vessel speeds at which the auxiliary device is effective in maneuvering the vessel.

(b) The maneuvering information must be provided for the normal load and normal ballast condition for:

(1) Calm weather—wind 10 knots or less, calm sea;

(2) No current;

(3) Deep water conditions—water depth twice the vessel's draft or greater; and

(4) Clean hull.

(c) At the bottom of the fact sheet, the following statement must appear:

(d) The information on the fact sheet must be:

(1) Verified six months after the vessel is placed in service; or

(2) Modified six months after the vessel is placed into service and verified within three months thereafter.

(e) The information that appears on the fact sheet may be obtained from:

(1) Trial trip observations;

(2) Model tests;

(3) Analytical calculations;

(4) Simulations;

(5) Information established from another vessel of similar hull form, power, rudder and propeller; or

(6) Any combination of the above.

(f) The requirements for information for fact sheets for specialized craft such as semi-submersibles, hydrofoils, hovercraft and other vessels of unusual design will be specified on a case by case basis.

When the automatic pilot is used in:

(a) Areas of high traffic density;

(b) Conditions of restricted visibility; and

(c) All other hazardous navigational situations, the master shall ensure that:

(1) It is possible to immediately establish manual control of the ship's steering;

(2) A competent person is ready at all times to take over steering control; and

(3) The changeover from automatic to manual steering and vice versa is made by, or under, the supervision of the officer of the watch.