Reporting a boating accident

Accidents & assistance · Power & sail

The operator of a recreational boat must send a written report to the state reporting authority when an accident involving the boat or its equipment causes a death, a disappearance, an injury needing more than first aid, $2,000 or more in damage, or a total loss (33 CFR 173.55). Deaths and disappearances also need immediate notice (33 CFR 173.53).

When a report is required

• Someone dies, or someone is injured and needs medical treatment beyond first aid (33 CFR 173.55(a)(1), (2)).
• Damage to boats and other property totals $2,000 or more, or any boat is a complete loss (33 CFR 173.55(a)(3)).
• Someone disappears from the boat in circumstances that suggest death or injury (33 CFR 173.55(a)(4)).
• The rule covers boats operated for recreation, or required to be numbered, on U.S. waters, and U.S.-owned boats on the high seas. It does not apply to Coast Guard-inspected vessels (33 CFR 173.51).
• Any occurrence involving the boat or its equipment counts, not just collisions. Maryland, for example, treats running aground or hitting a fixed or floating object as a boating accident.

Deadlines

• Death or disappearance: the operator must notify the nearest reporting authority without delay, by the quickest means, giving date, time, exact location, names of those lost, the boat's number and name, and owner and operator names and addresses (33 CFR 173.53).
• Written report within 48 hours if someone dies within 24 hours of the accident, needs medical treatment beyond first aid, or disappears (33 CFR 173.55(b)(1), (2)).
• Written report within 10 days of the accident or death in all other cases, such as damage-only accidents (33 CFR 173.55(b)(3)).

Who files and where

• The operator files. If the operator cannot, the owner must (33 CFR 173.55(c)). If the operator cannot give the immediate notice of a death or disappearance, each person aboard must give it or make sure it was given (33 CFR 173.53(b)).
• File with the reporting authority of the state that issued the boat's number, or, if the boat has no number, the state where it is mainly used (33 CFR 173.59(a)).
• If the accident happened outside that state, file with the reporting authority where it happened (33 CFR 173.59(b)).
• Every state, the District of Columbia and the territories act as reporting authorities; no area is listed for the Coast Guard (33 CFR part 173, appendix A).

What goes in the report

• It must be in writing, dated when completed, and signed by the person who prepared it (33 CFR 173.57(a)).
• Each boat, owner and operator involved; nearest town, county, state and body of water; location on the water; date and time; visibility, weather and water conditions; estimated air and water temperatures (33 CFR 173.57(b)).
• Each person injured or killed (name, address, date of birth), cause of death, nature of injuries, number aboard or being towed, and each witness's name, address and phone (33 CFR 173.57(b)).
• Your own details, boating experience and safety training, plus the weather forecasts and reports you used before and during the trip (33 CFR 173.57(b)).
• Life jacket availability and use, fire extinguishers used, any equipment failure that contributed, property damage with estimated repair cost, and your opinion of the cause, including any role of alcohol or drugs (33 CFR 173.57(b)).
• Your boat's make, model, type, beam, overall length, depth from transom to keel, horsepower, propulsion, fuel, drive type, hull material, model year and hull identification number (33 CFR 173.57(b)(23), (25)).

The rules: 33 CFR 173.3 · 33 CFR 173.51 · 33 CFR 173.53 · 33 CFR 173.55 · 33 CFR 173.57 · 33 CFR 173.59 · 33 CFR part 173 appendix A

A plain-language summary of federal rules for recreational boats, checked against the rules’ own text and a second source, and written in our own words. It isn’t legal advice. States add rules of their own, and rules change — the links above go to the current official text.