[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 46, Volume 7]
[Revised as of October 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 46CFR176.620]

[Page 214]
 
                           TITLE 46--SHIPPING
 
   CHAPTER I--COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 176--INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION--Table of Contents
 
               Subpart F--Hull and Tailshaft Examinations
 
Sec. 176.620  Description of the Alternative Hull Examination (AHE) Program for certain passenger vessels.

    The Alternative Hull Examination (AHE) Program provides you with an 
alternative to drydock examination by allowing your vessel's hull to be 
examined while it remains afloat. If completed using only divers, this 
program has four steps: the application process, the preliminary 
examination, the pre-survey meeting, and the hull examination. If a 
remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is used during the program the 
preliminary exam step may be omitted. Once you complete these steps, the 
Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection (OCMI) will evaluate the results 
and accept the examination as a credit hull exam if the vessel is in 
satisfactory condition. If divers are exclusively used for the 
underwater survey portion of the examination process, you may receive 
credit for a period of time such that subsequent AHEs would be conducted 
at intervals of twice in every five years, with no more than three years 
between any two AHEs. If an underwater ROV is used as the predominant 
method to examine the vessel's underwater hull plating, you may receive 
credit up to five years. At the end of this period, you may apply for 
further participation under the AHE Program.
    Note: The expected hull coverage when using an ROV must be at least 
80 percent.

[USCG-2000-6858, 67 FR 21085, Apr. 29, 2002]