The Coast Guard is making available for public comment a draft Change 1 to Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 02-99, Guidance on the Streamlined Inspection Program. Originally established in 1994 and formally guided by the 1999 publication of NVIC 02-99, the Streamlined Inspection Program (SIP) provides an alternative, company-managed process for ensuring compliance with U.S. vessel inspection regulations.
In the decades since the program's inception, the maritime industry has undergone a massive digital and organizational transformation. To better align with modern industry practices, the Coast Guard’s proposed draft Change 1 shifts the program away from legacy paper-based recordkeeping and prescriptive, annual physical inspections in favor of a modern, data-driven, and risk-based verification model.
Major Changes in the Draft NVIC 02-99, CH-1:
- Leveraging Existing Quality Management Systems: Encourages operators to use their existing Quality Management Systems (QMS), Safety Management Systems (SMS), or Towing Safety Management Systems (TSMS) to streamline enrollment, fostering a continuous state of compliance rather than traditional "snapshot-in-time" inspections.
- National Expansion of Tank Barge Flexibilities: Would replace the regional Tank Barge program to expand its highly successful, risk-based operational flexibilities to all eligible vessel subchapters nationwide.
- Transition to Document Verification: Shifts Coast Guard oversight from prescriptive, annual physical inspections to a risk-based "Document Verification" model for applicable inspection subchapters.
- Modern Digital Recordkeeping: Eliminates legacy paper forms, strongly encouraging the use of commercial Digital Compliance Systems (DCS) that map directly to SIP requirements.
- Integration of Third-Party Audits: Reduces administrative duplication by allowing companies to leverage audits from recognized third parties (such as SIRE or classification societies) to satisfy internal SIP verification requirements.
- Flexible Deficiency Management: Restructures the Correction Report (CR) process to encourage proactive self-reporting of essential system deficiencies.
- Temporary Repair: Implements a "Temporary Repair Management Framework" that permits operators to manage and execute minor, non-structural hull repairs autonomously without requiring prior Coast Guard approval or survey.
- Tiered Enforcement & National Oversight: Replaces the rigid "comply or disenroll" model with a tiered status system—introducing "SIP Probation" as an intermediate corrective status—and standardizes disenrollments with a national headquarters review process.
Comments, identified by docket number USCG-2026-0041, must be submitted within 30 days of the Federal Register publication date.