Carrying passengers for hire: what counts, and the six-passenger limit

Operating the boat & enforcement · Power & sail

A guest is a "passenger for hire" if anyone with an interest in the boat gets money or another benefit as a condition of the trip; voluntary sharing of actual trip expenses doesn't count. With one aboard, an uninspected boat under 100 gross tons may carry at most 6 passengers and needs an OUPV-licensed operator (46 U.S.C. 2101, 8903).

Who counts as a passenger

• A passenger is anyone aboard except the owner or the owner's representative, a charterer or the charterer's representative, the master, and paid crew working on board who did not pay to be there (46 U.S.C. 2101; 46 CFR 24.10-1).
• A passenger for hire is a passenger for whom consideration is contributed as a condition of carriage, whether it goes directly or indirectly to the owner, charterer, operator, agent or anyone else with an interest in the boat (46 U.S.C. 2101).

What "consideration" means

• Consideration is any economic benefit, inducement, right or profit, including cash, going to any person or business (46 U.S.C. 2101).
• The one exception is a voluntary sharing of the actual expenses of the voyage, in money or by contributing fuel, food, drink or other supplies (46 U.S.C. 2101; 46 CFR 175.400).
• So friends who freely chip in for the day's fuel and food are not passengers for hire. A set price, or a payment someone must make to come aboard, is consideration (46 U.S.C. 2101).

Up to six passengers: an uninspected passenger vessel

• A vessel under 100 gross tons carrying not more than 6 passengers, at least one of them for hire, is an uninspected passenger vessel. So is one chartered with the crew provided or specified by the owner and carrying not more than 6 passengers (46 U.S.C. 2101; 46 CFR 24.10-1).
• A self-propelled uninspected passenger vessel must be run by someone the Coast Guard has credentialed as an Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels (OUPV), the "six-pack" licence, or higher (46 U.S.C. 8903; 46 CFR 15.605(b)).
• More than 6 passengers with at least one for hire, or more than 6 on a charter where the owner supplies the crew, makes the boat a small passenger vessel, which must be inspected by the Coast Guard (46 U.S.C. 2101, 3301).

The OUPV ("six-pack") credential

• The OUPV endorsement covers vessels under 100 gross register tons carrying six or fewer passengers (46 CFR 11.467(a)).
• Routes: near-coastal (domestic waters up to 100 miles offshore, plus the Great Lakes and inland waters), Great Lakes and inland, or inland only. Limited versions exist for camps, yacht clubs, schools and marinas (46 CFR 11.467(b) to (f)).
• Applicants need documented sea service, an exam, a physical, a drug test and first-aid/CPR training, handled by the Coast Guard National Maritime Center (46 CFR 11.467; Coast Guard Auxiliary).

Documented boats

• A documented boat with only a recreational endorsement may be used only for pleasure, and may be bareboat chartered only for recreational use (46 U.S.C. 12114; 46 CFR 67.23).

The rules: 46 U.S.C. 2101 · 46 U.S.C. 8903 · 46 U.S.C. 3301 · 46 U.S.C. 12114 · 46 CFR 24.10-1 · 46 CFR 175.400 · 46 CFR 11.467 · 46 CFR 15.605 · 46 CFR 67.23

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.