For purposes of VGP section 4.1.1, what constitutes a voyage?
For the purposes of VGP section 4.1.1 (including its routine visual inspection provisions), a voyage is generally considered to begin when the vessel departs a dock or other location at which it has loaded or unloaded (in whole or in part) cargo or passengers, and to end after it has tied-up at another dock or location in order to again conduct such activities. For example, for a barge on the Mississippi River, such voyage would begin when it departs a location at which it has cargo loaded onto it and end when cargo is unloaded at another location. For vessels such as mobile oil and gas rigs, which are in a mode of transportation only when relocating between drill sites, a voyage for purposes of VGP section 4.1.1 is generally considered to begin when the rig departs one site and to end when it arrives at the new site to commence operations which are not transportation-oriented, such as drilling. For vessels such as harbor tugs, which may be in semi-continuous operation for up to a week
