MOPS for Great Lakes Officers and Pilots
Deck and engineering officers and state pilots serving on vessels engaged in trade on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway navigate waters crowded with both commercial and recreational traffic, exposing officers and pilots to a host of risks, including:
- Collisions with recreational vessels such as sailboats, powerboats, kayaks, canoes and personal watercraft
- Accidental swamping of recreational craft
- Allisions with docks, docked ships, navigating locks and shoreside equipment
Collisions with commercial vessels, pleasure boats and personal watercraft can result in license, civil and even criminal charges.
“Anyone without MOPS license insurance in this business is taking huge risks.”
––Great Lakes Pilot, Duluth, MN
MOPS in Action
While a ship’s master was operating a laker under a bridge on a river connected to one of the Great Lakes, the mast of the vessel struck the bridge and sustained significant damage. The bridge was undamaged.
A MOPS attorney was immediately assigned and successfully negotiated a Letter of Warning for the ship’s master, who was initially facing a three-month license suspension by the Coast Guard.
Total value of license defense services provided: $1,200.