HARLINGEN — An executive order signed by President Joe Biden immediately mandates masks be worn on all “public maritime vessels, including ferries” to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.
This new rule means masks must be worn at all times on charter boats, commercial fishing vessels and party boats, officials said, and refusal could result in criminal action.
The order says if anybody on these craft at sea refuses to put on a mask, captains “at the earliest opportunity, (may disembark) any person who refuses to comply,” the Coast Guard said.
“The Coast Guard is charged with enforcing CDC quarantine orders,” a Coast Guard statement read. “Owners, operators, and crew of vessels that fail to implement the mask-wearing order above may be subject to civil or criminal penalties from the CDC.”
The Coast Guard directive noted that vessels that don’t comply with the mask mandate may be issued a “Captain of the Port order, directing the vessel’s movement and operations; repeated failure to impose the mask mandate could result in civil penalties and/or criminal action.”
