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USCG Subchapter M — Towing Vessel Inspection

Establishes inspection and safety standards for towing vessels operating on U.S. navigable waters, covering vessel design, equipment, crew qualifications, and safety management systems. Applies to owners and operators of towing vessels.

11

Rules extracted

100

Obligations decomposed

9.1x

Avg obligations per rule

🇺🇸 United States

Jurisdiction

About this regulation

Establishes inspection requirements for towing vessels, including safety management systems, third-party organizations, vessel compliance, fire protection, lifesaving equipment, navigation safety, and pilothouse visibility standards.

What AuditDSS covers

Source

1

Regulation

Extracted

11

Rules

Decomposed

100

Obligations

9.1x

Decomposition ratio

Each rule is decomposed into an average of 9.1 atomic obligations — the smallest testable units that can be independently violated.

Fully extracted & scored

All 100 obligations have been decomposed, titled, risk-scored, and embedded for semantic matching.

Risk scoring

Every obligation in Subchapter M is scored across independent risk dimensions:

W

Obligation Weight

How critical within the regulatory framework

L

Violation Likelihood

How often breached in practice

E

Enforcement Evidence

Regulator enforcement history and penalties

C

Cascade Dependency

How many obligations depend on this one

Regulatory details

Full title
USCG Subchapter M — Towing Vessel Inspection
Regulatory body
United States Coast Guard
Jurisdiction
🇺🇸 United States
Document type
regulation
Effective date
July 20, 2018
Issuing authority
United States Coast Guard (USCG)
Official source
View source document ↗

Who this applies to

towing vessel operatorsvessel ownersthird-party organizationscrew members

Key requirements

  • towing vessel inspection
  • safety management systems
  • third-party organizations
  • vessel compliance
  • fire protection
  • lifesaving equipment
  • navigation safety
  • pilothouse visibility

Frequently asked questions about Subchapter M

What is Subchapter M?

Establishes inspection requirements for towing vessels, including safety management systems, third-party organizations, vessel compliance, fire protection, lifesaving equipment, navigation safety, and pilothouse visibility standards.

Who does Subchapter M apply to?

Subchapter M applies to towing vessel operators, vessel owners, third-party organizations, crew members.

How many obligations does Subchapter M contain?

AuditDSS has decomposed Subchapter M into 100 atomic obligations from 11 rules. Each obligation is independently testable and risk-scored.

What are the key requirements of Subchapter M?

The key requirements include: towing vessel inspection, safety management systems, third-party organizations, vessel compliance, fire protection, lifesaving equipment, navigation safety, pilothouse visibility.

How can I assess my Subchapter M compliance?

Upload your compliance policy to AuditDSS. The platform maps your document against all 100 Subchapter M obligations using deterministic AI scoring — not checklists or LLM summaries. You get a risk-scored gap analysis showing exactly which obligations are covered, partially covered, or missing.

Which jurisdiction enforces Subchapter M?

Subchapter M is enforced in United States by United States Coast Guard.

When did Subchapter M come into effect?

Subchapter M became effective on July 20, 2018.

What industry does Subchapter M apply to?

Subchapter M is primarily relevant to the Maritime & Shipping industry. AuditDSS covers 66 regulations in this industry sector.

Build a Subchapter M compliance pack

Don't have a compliance policy yet? AuditDSS generates a complete compliance pack for Subchapter M — alone or combined with other regulations your business needs. Every clause is mapped to specific obligations.

Policy

High-level commitments and governance framework covering Subchapter M requirements.

Procedures

Step-by-step operational procedures to implement each policy commitment.

Forms & checklists

Ready-to-use forms, registers, and checklists for day-to-day compliance operations.

Multi-regulation

Combine Subchapter M with other regulations into a single unified compliance pack for your business.

Already have a policy? Assess it against Subchapter M

1

Upload your document

Upload your compliance policy, program manual, or operational document. AuditDSS accepts any text-based document.

2

AI maps against 100 obligations

Your document is scored against every obligation in Subchapter M. Each claim is mapped to the obligation tree and evaluated for coverage.

3

Risk-scored gap report

Receive every gap ranked by risk priority with remediation guidance, enforcement evidence, and cascade impact analysis.

Related regulations in Maritime & Shipping

Assess your Subchapter M compliance

Upload your document and get a risk-scored gap analysis against 100 Subchapter M obligations in under 5 minutes.