Passenger Ferry Service to Fort Sumter National Monument Met Federal Safety Requirements

This report presents the results of our unannounced inspection on August 14, 2018, of passenger ferry safety at Fort Sumter National Monument, Charleston, SC. The objective of our inspection was to determine whether Fort Sumter Tours, Inc., a National Park Service (NPS) concessionaire, operated its ferry service to Fort Sumter in compliance with Federal safety requirements. Fort Sumter Tours met all the safety requirements that we tested on three of its four vessels (the fourth was out of service). Each had a U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection on board, and none of the ferries carried more passengers than allowed. Furthermore, the ferries carried enough life vests for all passengers, had fire extinguishers available that had been inspected regularly, and carried first aid kits on board. In addition, sufficient crew members possessed current operating licenses and CPR certifications and passed random drug tests.