DEMA Working Hard To Pass The Dive Boat Act

The Dive Equipment & Marketing Association (DEMA) is actively supporting a bill before Congress, the "Small Passenger Vessel Liability Fairness Act." The act creates a new class of vessels and removes them from liability protection under an old law.

The old law, the Limitation of Liability Act (1851), was designed to protect American shipping. One of the main sections limited claims to the vessel's value and its cargo, but a sunken boat is of no value beyond what it is insured for. When the Conception burned in 2020, killing 33 divers and a crew member, the law limited the families of the deceased to what their compensation was in maritime disasters. Owner Glenn Fritzer filed a suit to invoke this law, freeing him of any personal obligation to the families other than what they might receive from his $5 million insurance policy, most of which was used to salvage the burned hull. The law's roots go back to when the shipping industry couldn't obtain insurance, and the government needed marine commerce, so the law was to keep owners in business should there be a tragedy with the loss of a sailor's life.

After the Conception incident, Congress sought better compensation for victims' families and passed the Small Passenger Vessel Liability Fairness Act, which requires owners of small passenger vessels to be held legally responsible for damages in future boating accidents and incidents, regardless of the boat's value. They cannot limit their liability to the vessel's value and will be held liable for all losses arising from a maritime casualty. The act applies to craft under 100 gross tons and carrying not more than 49 passengers on an overnight domestic voyage and less than 150 passengers on any voyage not an overnight domestic voyage. It also has the effect of requiring updated safety standards for day boats providing scuba diving.

DEMA believes the act had the unintended consequence of increasing insurance premiums. In a press release, DEMA says members have reported insurance price increases 2 to 5 times higher than last year due to the increased liability under the SPVA.

Tom Ingram told Undercurrent, "In Florida, we know of an operator that saw a $160,000 increase in their store and vessel liability coverage. They are now paying nearly 10% of their annual cash receipts on insurance. Another Florida operator reported a $25,000 increase for his two vessels -more than double what he paid last year. An operator in Hawaii reported an $85,000 increase over their previous premiums, and a dive and travel store with no vessels in Washington, DC reported a $40,000 increase." Those are hefty increases, but one can pin it all on the Small Passenger Vessel Liability Fairness Act, especially if an operator has no boats. Liability insurance premiums are being raised for every business.

Of course, Insurance increases will be passed on to divers, increasing their costs. DEMA also states that increased insurance costs could lead to less funds for maintenance and safety issues aboard scuba diving vessels.

In coordination with insurance actuators, DEMA devised a bill that would modify certain aspects of the SPVA, including removing day boats from the SPVA and restoring their place in the Limit of Liabilities Act.

Ingram says that "the DIVE BOAT Act changes would provide significant relief." It would:

Reduce the lookback period for claims from two years to one year for liveaboards (overnight vessels), which is more in line with how insurance premiums are assessed. (Up from the historic period of six months).

Remove "dayboats" from the types of vessels subject to heightened liability standards - reverting them back to the same standards as all other vessel operators, e.g., sport fishing and tow boats. "

In a follow-up, Tom Ingram told Undercurrent, "The Dive Boat Act would still hold overnight operators to higher standards but return day boat operators, which continue to operate at the heightened USCG safety standards (that DEMA also supported) with much-needed insurance premium relief and put them on a level playing field with other U.S. small vessel operators. Otherwise, the Dive Boat Act does not alter any compensation a victim or their family would be entitled to at a trial."

The efforts of DEMA have some traction, and a bill has been introduced to modify the act. The act should help stabilize the cost of U.S. diving.

- Charles Davis