Análisis financiero de un proyecto

1. General Overview:

The U.S. casualty in vestig atio n s are c arried out under a dual system whereby the United States Coast Guard c a rrie s out almost a ll the in vestig atio n s and the National Trans­ portation Safety Board (NTSB) acts as a p a rtic ip a n t in some of the major accidents. Discussions have taken place over the years about the p o s s ib ility of (NTSB) taking over e n tir e ly but th is has not occurred, although working arrangements have been concluded from time to time b et­ ween the two organizations. I t is d i f f i c u l t to determine whether the present s itu a tio n w ill become permanent or whether i t i^ of an in terim or tra n s itio n a l nature. While the (NTSB) does not carry out most of the in vestig ations

in the marine mode of tra n s p o rt, i t is a c tiv e ly involved in those o f a v ia tio n accidents. The ad m in istrative law judges system is also special in te re s t in the U.S.A. for i t has resolved the question of separation of d is c ip lin e from safety related m atters. For these reasons, we w ill examine in some d e ta il the role o f the United States Coast Guard v is -a -v is in q u irie s in to marine accidents.

The U.S. Coast Guard (U .S .C .G .) acquired it s name in 1915 and was reporting under the Department o f Commerce fo r a c e rta in period of time before being tran s fe rred to the Department o f Transportation. I t ca rrie s out a board range o f marine re s p o n s ib ilitie s a ffe c tin g both commer­ c ia l and non-commercial a c t iv it ie s . In p a r tic u la r , i t is responsible fo r vessel t r a f f i c management, inspection and c e r t i f ic a t i o n , licensing and personal schemes, federal p ilo ta g e , regulations and enforcement. Responsible also fo r search and rescue except fo r c e rta in inland waters where the re s p o n s ib ility would f a l l under the in dividual s t a te .a u th o r itie s , i t has it s own radio stations a v a il­ able fo r search and rescue, d istress c a lls , e t c . , i t is not possible fo r regulatin g them since th is is handled by the Federal Communications Commission.

The Commandant is in f u l l charge o f the Coast Guard but him self not d ir e c tly involved in in v e s tig a tio n s . Under him there are various o ffic e s , one o f which is the Merchant Marine Safety O ffice which is headed by an Admiral. This o ffic e has fiv e d iv is io n s : Inspection, Licensing, Documentation, In v e s tig a tio n , and Marine Tech­ nical and Hazardous M a te ria ls . At the f ie ld le v e l, there is a D is tr ic t Commander who is an Admiral; under him there is the Marine Safety Division and under him there are O ffice rs in Charge o f Marine Inspection (OCMI); under the OCMI there is the eleven d i s t r ic t s . In major f ie ld o ffic e s , there are Senior In vestig atin g O ffice rs plus

others, whereas in some smaller o ffic e s there might be only one In vestig atin g O ffic e r. A Senior In vestig atin g O ffic e r is one who has had one or more y e a rs ' experience. The in vestig ato rs are acting b a s ic a lly on a fu ll-tim e b asis, although in some small o ffic e s they might be assigned other d u eties. The average in ve s tig ato r acts as such fo r about one y e ar. A ll in vestig ato rs report to the OCMI and a ll .such reports even tually go the headquarters, some o f them may go through the d i s t r ic t o ffic e f i r s t .

The Coast Guard s t i l l has fu l ju ris d ic tio n to in vestig ate a ll c a s u a ltie s . NTSB has concurrent ju r is t ic t io n to in ve s tig ate "major marine casu alties" involving loss of six or more liv e s , loss of s e lf-p ro p e lle d vessels over 100 gross tons, damage exceeding US $500,000, or serious t r e a t to l i f e , property or the environment by hazardous m a te ria ls . In such cases, NTSB p a rtic ip a te s in the in v e s tig a tio n , which is then carried out by the Coast Guard according to i t s own ru le s . On the other hand, NTSB in vestig ates exclu sively a ll c o llis io n s between a Coast Guard vessel and a non-public vessel involving at le a s t one f a t a l i t y or US $75,000 in property damage. The la s t arrangement resu lts from a Memorandum o f Understand­ ing signed between the Coast Guard and NTSB in September 1981. I f a major marine casualty occurs, the Coast Guard informs NTSB; there is then consultation as to the p a rtic ip a tio n o f the l a t t e r in the in ve s tig atio n o r, e v e n tu a lly , in a public in q u iry .