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Mr. Sandman · 09-12-2013, 08:39 AM

Like I said it is convoluted.
Technically net tonnage is an exact number, there should be no wiggle room in it. It is really based the volume of the cargo spaces of ships and is generally used in the figuring out of port duties. I don't think it has any place in sportfishing boats. However, when you hire an surveyor, it is kind of like hiring a sleazy lawyer...he knows what answer he is looking for before he even starts the calculation. And he chooses variables in the real equations to meet the requirement of the person paying his invoice. (technically a conflict of interest of sorts). Technically these variables are usually well defined on ship drawings and like i said there is no wiggle room, it is what it is.

It is not enforced just like all the other maritime and fisheries laws are not enforced..but that is the law. If you do the full real math, you will find out that modern 26' boat with a 9' beam is going to exceed 5 NT. They generally do a GT calc and take a percentage since 26' sportfish boats don't have traditional cargo spaces. In the end, lots of the numbers are fudged to get the answer you want.

I've taken a several NA grad courses and done this calc many times for real ships when I was younger. The problem I have is the general concept....Net tonnage is a hydrostatic term typically use for large ships, not 30' sportfish boats. IMO this is the wrong guideline to determine if a pleasure boat should be doc or not and then what safety rules. They lumped in commercial shipping along with pleasure boats who don't leave the country and don't cross oceans and just want to sell a couple of tuna fish per year.

Again, IMO what they ***should*** do is say: for boats < X':
if you plan to do ANYTHING commercially beyond 3 miles offshore you need the following gear:.......
if you plan to do ANYTHING recreationally beyond 3 miles offshore you need the following gear:.......

And that is it. Regs need to be simple and useful. You should not be able to position yourself in such a way as to avoid getting required safety gear.

09-12-2013, 08:39 AM	#16
Mr. Sandman Registered User iTrader: (0) Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 7,649	Like I said it is convoluted. Technically net tonnage is an exact number, there should be no wiggle room in it. It is really based the volume of the cargo spaces of ships and is generally used in the figuring out of port duties. I don't think it has any place in sportfishing boats. However, when you hire an surveyor, it is kind of like hiring a sleazy lawyer...he knows what answer he is looking for before he even starts the calculation. And he chooses variables in the real equations to meet the requirement of the person paying his invoice. (technically a conflict of interest of sorts). Technically these variables are usually well defined on ship drawings and like i said there is no wiggle room, it is what it is. It is not enforced just like all the other maritime and fisheries laws are not enforced..but that is the law. If you do the full real math, you will find out that modern 26' boat with a 9' beam is going to exceed 5 NT. They generally do a GT calc and take a percentage since 26' sportfish boats don't have traditional cargo spaces. In the end, lots of the numbers are fudged to get the answer you want. I've taken a several NA grad courses and done this calc many times for real ships when I was younger. The problem I have is the general concept....Net tonnage is a hydrostatic term typically use for large ships, not 30' sportfish boats. IMO this is the wrong guideline to determine if a pleasure boat should be doc or not and then what safety rules. They lumped in commercial shipping along with pleasure boats who don't leave the country and don't cross oceans and just want to sell a couple of tuna fish per year. Again, IMO what they *should* do is say: for boats < X': if you plan to do ANYTHING commercially beyond 3 miles offshore you need the following gear:....... if you plan to do ANYTHING recreationally beyond 3 miles offshore you need the following gear:....... And that is it. Regs need to be simple and useful. You should not be able to position yourself in such a way as to avoid getting required safety gear. Last edited by Mr. Sandman; 09-12-2013 at 08:44 AM..