[PSUBS-MAILIST] Ethical obligation to inform

Fri Jul 14 13:23:19 EDT 2017

Here is a tip for any one who is approached by park rangers, Coast Guard or marine police personnel while operating you sub-
Every time this has happened to me (and it has happened a few times) the officer politely asked if I had "permission" to dive a sub (because they honestly didn't know if permission is required or not)I politely pointed to the Maryland registration and said "this is a vessel registered in the state of MD". 
That was it. They thanked me and said "have a good day".

      From: Jon Wallace via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
 To: Personal Submersibles General Discussion <personal_submersibles at psubs.org> 
 Sent: Friday, July 14, 2017 12:34 PM
 Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Ethical obligation to inform

Sean, exactly!
PSUBS Design Guidelines for Personal Submersibles1 GENERAL1.1 Adoption of ABS and ASME Standards1.1.1 Applicability.Except where defined elsewhere within this document, all designs in whole or in part shall conform to the latest standards defined by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and/or the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
PSUBS Construction Guidelines for Personal Submersibles1 GENERAL1.1 Adoption of ABS and ASME Standards1.1.1 Applicability.Except where defined elsewhere within this document, all construction and fabrication techniques in whole or in part shall conform to the latest standards defined by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and/or the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
We have already adopted the gold standard for design and fabrication and therefore your question, where is the vaccum in regulations, is exactly on target.
In the USA, personal submarines operate as small boats on the surface and are subject to the same rules as small surface vessels.  Submerged, personal submarines are akin to SCUBA and adoption of those rules seems appropriate for reasonable safety during operations.
The word "experimental" emblazoned on a personal submarine accomplishes what?  It was adopted for aircraft purposes because the aircraft industry *is* heavily regulated including certifications and licensing...all that we want to avoid.  Aircraft are not a proper correlation to personal submarines.  The proper correlation is home-built canoes, row-boats, and powered boats; none of which is required to be identified as experimental.  There is no logical argument for it when certification is the historical and existing standard.  There can only be two possibilities with submarines, certified or not.  Therefore, a submarine built by the best commercial fabricator on the planet, which is NOT certified, is identical to a home-built submarine in the context that they are BOTH non-certified vessels.  From a regulation perspective it doesn't matter one wit, that one was fabricated in a multi-million dollar facility and the other was fabricated in a two stall garage.
Jon 

    On Friday, July 14, 2017 10:08 AM, Sean T. Stevenson via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:

 Where do they perceive a vacuum in the regulations regarding submarines? Construction standards abound, and existing regulations for small craft should apply (i.e licensing over 10 HP, etc.) Operational rules already exist in the form of the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea. Surfacing / diving as a special consideration would appear to be covered by the requirement for maintaining a competent watch.What specifically do they want to regulate that doesn't already exist?Sean

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