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Answers from the regulation text itself: the CFR and Coast Guard guidance, the IMO conventions and 14 flag states. Scoped to your vessel, with every requirement cited.
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Lifesaving Equipment — Towboat on the Rivers
46 CFR 141.370 Under Subchapter M, equipment depends on the area you operate in, not the route on your COI.
Survival craft:
None required on rivers, unless the OCMI or your TSMS calls for them 46 CFR 141.305.
Lifebuoys (26 to 79 ft):
Two, at least 24 in, on opposite sides where crew are normally present; at least one with a 60 ft buoyant lifeline 46 CFR 141.360.
Distress signals:
Three day and three night visual distress signals for the rivers area 46 CFR 141.375.
Note: Head into coastwise or Gulf waters and the tables change: buoyant apparatus or liferafts come into play.
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- 87 sources
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A real answer, sped up: does a new deckhand need a safety orientation before the boat gets underway? Cited to 46 CFR 140.410.
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How we're different
Why not just use ChatGPT?
Honest answer: for casual maritime questions, you can. For compliance answers that need to hold up to a Coast Guard inspector or a port-state control deficiency report, here's what general-purpose AI doesn't do.
Every citation is checked against the text
General AI will cite a CFR section that doesn't exist. RegKnot checks every citation against the regulation text before you see it and drops any that don't hold up. When an exact figure isn't in the text, it won't make one up: it tells you who publishes it and who to confirm with.
The full texts, not web summaries
SOLAS, MARPOL, the IMDG Code, STCW and the ISM Code; recent IMO resolutions with their adoption and entry-into-force dates; the CFR, NVICs and Coast Guard policy; rules from 14 flag states. Ask about UN 3480 stowage and the answer comes from the Dangerous Goods List entry.
The answer changes with your ship
A Subchapter M towboat, a Subchapter K passenger vessel and a UK-flag bulker in U.S. waters get different answers. RegKnot reads your vessel profile (flag, tonnage, route, subchapter, cargo) and scopes the search and the answer to it.
A Master Unlimited behind it
Karynn holds a USCG Master Unlimited license and sails as a containership captain. Misses that she or our users flag (an Annex V exemption, another flag's rule, a pilot-ladder material) get traced to the source and fixed. A mariner in the loop, not a wrapper around an API.
We tested it
ChatGPT looks confident.
That's the problem.
We asked ChatGPT specific maritime questions. Every answer came back polished and authoritative. Some of them are wrong. The hard part isn't spotting hallucinations — it's noticing them before the inspector does.
Real question, real answers
“What’s the stowage category for UN 3480 (lithium-ion batteries packed without equipment) on a passenger vessel?”
Bottom line: Category C — on deck only on passenger vessels.
Under the IMDG Code, UN 3480 (fully regulated lithium-ion batteries) is assigned Stowage Category C, which means “on deck only” on passenger vessels. If this is for a Coast Guard exam or company policy question, the expected answer is almost always Category C.
Stowage Category: A — on or under deck on cargo and passenger ships.
Cited — IMDG 3.2 — UN 3480
“Stowage Category A means the substance may be stowed on or under deck on cargo ships and on or under deck on passenger ships. Stowage codes: SW19. Segregation codes: SG7.”
Source: IMDG Code, Volume 2, Dangerous Goods List entry for UN 3480
Why this matters: Over-restricting stowage based on a hallucinated category fails a tabletop audit and creates avoidable operational cost.
Examples captured 2026-05-04 from ChatGPT with web browsing enabled. Verifiable against eCFR, the IMDG Code, and USCG NVIC archive.
Why RegKnot
The regs are complex.
Getting cited shouldn't be.
A commercial vessel answers to the CFR, Coast Guard policy, the IMO conventions and its flag state at once, and the answer changes with vessel type, tonnage, route and cargo. One missed detail at an inspection means a deficiency, a detention or worse.
RegKnot was built by a USCG Master Unlimited and her engineer brother. We know these regulations because we live them. This is the tool we wished existed.
General-purpose AI answers from memory. RegKnot answers from the regulation text and your vessel profile, and cites the section so you can check it.
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Other apps stop at the photo
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Career Path
We read your stored credentials + sea-time, then look at the actual CFR ladder. “You're cap-eligible for Master Inland 200 GT now; Master Near-Coastal 200 GT is 180 days away under 46 CFR 11.422.”
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Drop in a COI, get the regulatory implications mapped.
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Compliance Changelog
What changed in the regs that affects your record.
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Score, gaps, and what to fix first across credentials + vessels.
Other mariner apps store the paperwork. RegKnot stores it and explains the rule behind it.
What we know
Every reg in our index, sorted by where it comes from. Click any chip to open the source.
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Compliance run from the office? See the office plan.
Fleet pricing available. or email
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Cited, not guessed. Gear for mariners who read the regs.
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