Policy and Guidance applicable to Floating OCS Facilities (FOFs)

The following content is available on this page (content is organized under the respective tabs):

  1) USCG Marine Safety Manual (MSM), Vol II;

  2) Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs);

  3) National Policy;

  4) District Eight (Gulf of Mexico) Policy;

  5) Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circulars (NVICs); and

  6) Production Facility Applicability Flowchart.

Marine Safety Manual

The following chapters of the Marine Safety Manual, Volume II: Section G - OCS Activities are applicable to FOFs:
  ○  Chapter 1, Regulations, Policy and Guidance for a Unit Conducting an OCS Activity, and
  ○  Chapter 4, Procedures Applicable to Floating OCS Facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs)

CFRs that pertain to Floating OCS Facilities are as follows:

Primary subchapter -
  ○  33 CFR Subchapter N - Outer Continental Shelf Activities

Additional subchapters that apply -
​  ○  46 CFR Subchapter I-A - Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (Part 107, Subpart C and Part 108 only)
  ○  46 CFR Subchapter F - Marine Engineering
  ○  46 CFR Subchapter J - Electrical Engineering
  ○  46 CFR Subchapter Q - Equipment, Construction and Materials: Specifications and Approval
  ○  46 CFR Subchapter S - Subdivision and Stability
  ○  33 CFR Subchapter C - Aids to Navigation (Parts 66 and 67)
  ○  33 CFR Subchapter H - Maritime Security (Parts 101, 103 and 106; only applies to facilities that fall into the categories listed at §106.105(a))
  ○  33 CFR Subchapter O - Pollution (Parts 151, 153 and 155)

Note that 33 CFR Subchapter A also has applicability in regards to administration and legal actions.

CFRs can be viewed at ecfr.gov (regularly updated online version) or govinfo.gov (annual editions).

National Policy

National policy letters that apply to floating OCS facilities are listed in the table below, grouped by issuing authority and ordered from newest to oldest (by policy number/original issue date). Click on the policy number to open the document (opens in a new window).

District Eight (Gulf of Mexico) Policy

D8 policy letters that apply to floating OCS facilities are listed in the table below, grouped by issuing authority and ordered from newest to oldest (by policy number/original issue date). Click on the policy number to open the document (opens in a new window).

Note that policy letter numbers for all policies listed from 1999 and earlier do NOT have a policy number referenced on the letter itself, but the policy number listed was assigned by D8 for tracking purposes.

Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circulars (NVICs)

NVICs that apply to floating OCS facilities are listed in the table below, ordered from newest to oldest (by NVIC number). Click on the NVIC number to open the document (opens in a new window). ALL NVICs can be found on the Official NVIC Page.

Production Facility Applicability Flowchart

For a pdf version of the applicability flowchart displayed below, click here.