{"id":316113,"date":"2026-10-28T15:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T15:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/316113\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T15:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T15:06:08","slug":"lake-erie-collision-ntsb-seeks-stronger-usv-safety-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/316113\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Erie collision: NTSB seeks stronger USV safety standards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by
\n
\n Marine Log\u00a0Staff<\/a><\/p>\n

\"NOAA<\/p>\n

NOAA USV prior to collision. [Photo: NOAA]<\/p>\n

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued six recommendations to improve the perceptibility and safe operations of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), following its investigation of a 2024 vessel collision on Lake Erie.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 10, 2024, a NOAA <\/a>Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab SeaTrac SP-48 uncrewed surface vessel and a privately-owned Prestige 450 Flybridge recreational vessel collided near Monroe, Mich. The USV became entangled in the recreational vessel\u2019s starboard propeller pod. Both vessels were towed together to a nearby marina and later separated.<\/p>\n

One minor injury was reported as a result of the collision. The USV was considered a total constructive loss, with an estimated value of $186,000. Damage to the recreational vessel was estimated at $100,000.<\/p>\n

The NTSB found that the 15.7-foot-long USV was difficult for other mariners to see because only about a foot of its hull was visible above the water. Additionally, it is unlikely that the USV would be perceived electronically (radar or automatic identification system) by the recreational vessels typically operating in the area. The NTSB recommended SeaTrac Systems Inc<\/a>., the manufacturer of the USV, modify its design to improve the vessel\u2019s perceptibility.<\/p>\n

The NTSB also recommended that NOAA revise its internal policies to ensure its USVs are perceptible and require testing to verify that each vessel can be adequately detected by operators of other vessels typically found in the USV\u2019s area of operation.<\/p>\n

At the time of the collision, NOAA was operating the USV in \u201cadapted hold\u201d mode, which allowed the vessel to automatically return to preset waypoints if it drifted beyond a 150-foot radius established by its remote pilot. The pilot passively monitored the vessel from ashore while the system maintained its waypoints. The NTSB determined that this level of monitoring was insufficient for safe operation in an area frequented by recreational vessels.<\/p>\n

The NTSB recommended NOAA require monitoring of its USVs at a level commensurate with the USV\u2019s actual level of autonomy, taking into account the vessel\u2019s operating area and mode of operation.<\/p>\n

The investigation also found that, at the time of the collision, there were no industry-wide standards specifically addressing the perceptibility, collision-avoidance capabilities and navigational safety of USVs operating in U.S. inland and territorial waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs USVs become more commonplace in U.S. waterways, it is critical for the Coast Guard to begin to set standards and policies for these vessels,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

The NTSB recommended the U.S. Coast Guard develop and issue a national framework of perceptibility, collision avoidance capability and navigational safety standards for USVs and incorporate these standards into regulations.<\/p>\n

Download the full report HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Written by Marine Log\u00a0Staff NOAA USV prior to collision. [Photo: NOAA] The National Transportation Safety Board has issued…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[8966,136,138,137,17614,128872,128873,128874],"class_list":["post-316113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-collision","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-noaa","tag-seatrac-systems","tag-uncrewed-surface-vessel","tag-usv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}