[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 2]
[Revised as of October 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR176.39]

[Page 712]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
 CHAPTER I--RESEARCH AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF 
                             TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 176_CARRIAGE BY VESSEL--Table of Contents
 
                Subpart B_General Operating Requirements
 
Sec. 176.39  Inspection of cargo.

    (a) Manned vessels. The carrier, its agents, and any person 
designated for this purpose by the carrier or agents shall cause an 
inspection of each hold or compartment containing hazardous materials to 
be made after stowage is complete, and at least once every 24 hours 
thereafter, weather permitting, in order to ensure that the cargo is in 
a safe condition and that no damage caused by shifting, spontaneous 
heating, leaking, sifting, wetting, or other cause has been sustained by 
the vessel or its cargo since loading and stowage. However, freight 
containers or individual barges need not be opened. A vessel's holds 
equipped with smoke or fire detecting systems having an automatic 
monitoring capability need not be inspected except after stowage is 
complete and after periods of heavy weather. The carrier, its agents, 
and any person designated for this purpose by the carrier or agents 
shall cause an entry to be made in the vessel's deck log book for each 
inspection of the stowage of hazardous materials performed.
    (b) Unmanned and magazine vessels. An inspection of the cargo must 
be made after stowage has been completed to ensure that stowage has been 
accomplished properly and that there are no visible signs of damage to 
any packages or evidence of heating, leaking, or sifting. This 
inspection must be made by the individual who is responsible to the 
carrier and who is in charge of loading and stowing the cargo on the 
unmanned vessels or the individual in charge in the case of a magazine 
vessel.
    (c) The carrier, its agents, and any person designated for this 
purpose by the carrier or agents of each ocean-going vessel carrying 
hazardous material shall, immediately prior to entering a port in the 
United States, cause an inspection of that cargo to be made.
    (d) When inspecting a cargo of hazardous materials capable of 
evolving flammable vapors, any artificial means of illumination must be 
of an explosion-proof type.

[Amdt. 176-1, 41 FR 16110, Apr. 15, 1976, as amended by Amdt. 176-8, 44 
FR 23228, Apr. 19, 1979; Amdt. 176-9, 44 FR 49458, Aug. 23, 1979]