46 CFR 140.425: Fall overboard prevention on towing vessels

Last reviewed: October 14, 2026

This section requires procedures to prevent falls overboard and to recover persons in the water. The procedures must cover at least five listed topics. Everyone on board must comply with them.

Applies toOwners, managing operators and masters of towing vessels, and all persons on board a towing vessel.

What it says

  1. The owner or managing operator of a towing vessel must establish procedures for fall overboard prevention and for recovery of persons in the water.

    46 CFR 140.425(a)“The owner or managing operator of a towing vessel must establish procedures to address fall overboard prevention and recovery of persons in the water”

  2. The procedures must include, but are not limited to, personal protective equipment.

    46 CFR 140.425(a)“including, but not limited to:”

  3. The procedures must address safely working on the tow.

    46 CFR 140.425(a)(2)“Safely working on the tow;”

  4. The procedures must address safety while line handling.

    46 CFR 140.425(a)(3)“Safety while line handling;”

  5. The procedures must address safely moving between the vessel and a tow, pier, structure, or other vessel.

    46 CFR 140.425(a)(4)“Safely moving between the vessel and a tow, pier, structure, or other vessel; and”

  6. The procedures must address use of retrieval equipment.

    46 CFR 140.425(a)(5)“Use of retrieval equipment.”

  7. The owner, managing operator, or master must ensure that all persons on board comply with the policies and procedures in this section.

    46 CFR 140.425(b)“The owner, managing operator, or master must ensure that all persons on board comply with the policies and procedures in this section.”

Common questions

Who must establish fall overboard procedures on a towing vessel?

The owner or managing operator of the towing vessel must establish them.

“The owner or managing operator of a towing vessel must establish procedures to address fall overboard prevention and recovery of persons in the water”

What topics must fall overboard procedures cover?

They must cover personal protective equipment, safely working on the tow, line handling safety, moving between the vessel and a tow, pier, structure, or other vessel, and use of retrieval equipment. The list is not limited to these topics.

“Safely moving between the vessel and a tow, pier, structure, or other vessel; and”

Who must make sure people on board follow the fall overboard procedures?

The owner, managing operator, or master must ensure that all persons on board comply.

“The owner, managing operator, or master must ensure that all persons on board comply with the policies and procedures in this section.”

The text of 46 CFR 140.425

Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR), current as of April 16, 2026 · Read it on eCFR

Fall overboard prevention

(a) The owner or managing operator of a towing vessel must establish procedures to address fall overboard prevention and recovery of persons in the water, including, but not limited to:

(1) Personal protective equipment;

(2) Safely working on the tow;

(3) Safety while line handling;

(4) Safely moving between the vessel and a tow, pier, structure, or other vessel; and

(5) Use of retrieval equipment.

(b) The owner, managing operator, or master must ensure that all persons on board comply with the policies and procedures in this section.

The plain-English explanation on this page was written with AI from the regulation text above and checked automatically before publishing: every quote appears in the text, every number comes from it, and a second model confirmed each statement adds nothing the text doesn't say. Regulation text current as of April 16, 2026. The regulation text governs. RegKnot is not affiliated with the U.S. Coast Guard.