Title 10 — Health and Safety

It is the policy of this Territory to promote safety for persons and properties in and connected with the use, operation and equipment of vessels and to promote uniformity of laws relating thereto. SOURCE: GC § 8995.1.

As used in this Chapter unless the context clearly requires a different meaning: (1) Vessel means every description of watercraft, other than a seaplane on the water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. (2) Motorboat means any vessel not more than…

Every vessel using the waters of this Territory shall be numbered except those exempted by § 69103 of this Chapter. No person shall operate or be given permission to operate any vessel on such waters unless the vessel is numbered in accordance with this Chapter or in accordance w…

A vessel shall not be required to be numbered under this Act if it is: (1) Covered by a certificate of number in full force and effect which has been issued to it pursuant to Federal Law or a federally approved numbering system of the United States provided that such vessel shall…

(a) Application. The owner of each vessel required to be numbered by this Territory shall file an application for number with the Guam Police Department on forms approved for it. Such forms shall be prepared in cooperation with the Department of Revenue and Taxation. The applicat…

The certificate of ownership shall not be renewed but shall remain valid until suspended, revoked or cancelled by the Guam Police Department for cause or upon a transfer of any interest shown therein. If the transfer of the certificate of ownership is from a legal owner to the ow…

(a) Upon application for registration of a vessel previously registered outside Guam, the Guam Police Department shall grant full faith and credit to the currently valid certificate of title describing such vessel, the ownership thereof and liens noted thereon, issued by the juri…

The registration requirements of this Chapter apply to every vessel owned by the Government or leased for a period exceeding six (6) months by the Government, except in the following particulars: (a) The certificate of number of any such vessel issued shall not be renewed every t…

A legal owner may assign his title or interest in or to a vessel registered under this Chapter to a person other than the owner without the consent and without affecting interest of such owner. Upon receiving a certificate of ownership endorsed by the legal owner and the transfer…

The Guam Police Department may suspend, cancel or revoke the certificate of ownership or the certificate of number in any of the following events: (a) when the Department is satisfied that such certificate of ownership or certificate of number was fraudulently obtained or erroneo…

[Repealed] SOURCE: GC § 8995.11, as added by P.L. 15-54. NOTE: P.L. 23-128:IV:21 repeals the Abandoned Vessel Fund and provides for A... any and all remaining balances are reverted to the General Fund. All revenue previously earmarked into this Fund shall continue to be collected…

A security interest in any vessel registered under this Chapter, irrespective of whether such registration was effected prior or subsequent to the execution of this security agreement, is not valid as against creditors or subsequent purchasers or encumbrances until the secured pa…

When the secured party, his successor or assignee has deposited with the Department a copy of this security agreement as provided in this Chapter, such deposit constitutes constructive notice of this security agreement and its contents to creditors and subsequent purchasers or en…

(a) Classification. Motorboats subject to the provisions of this Act shall be divided into four classes as follows: CLASS A. Less than 16 feet in length. CLASS 1. 16 feet or over and less than 26 feet in length. CLASS 2. 26 feet or over and less than 40 feet in length. CLASS 3. 4…

(a) Livery record. The owner of a boat livery shall cause to be kept a record of the name and address of the person or persons hiring any motorboat or vessel, the identification number thereof, and the departure date and time, and the expected time of return. The record shall be …

The exhaust of every internal combustion engine used on any motorboat shall be effectively muffled by an efficient muffling device or system used as to muffle the noise of the exhaust in a reasonable manner. The use of cut-outs is prohibited, except for motorboats competing in a …

(a) Reckless or Negligent. No person shall operate or manipulate any water skis, aquaplane, surfboard, or similar device in a reckless or negligent manner so as to endanger the life, limb or property of any person. (b) Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs. No person shall oper…

(a) Duty to render assistance. It shall be the duty of the operator of a vessel involved in a collision, accident or other casualty, so far as he can do so without serious danger to his own vessel, crew and passengers (if any), to render to other persons affected by the collision…

In accordance with any request duly made by an authorized official or agency of the United States, any information compiled or otherwise available to the Guam Police Department pursuant to § 69117(b) shall be transmitted to said official or agency of the United States for analyti…

Devices. (a) Observer. No person shall operate a vessel on any waters of this Territory for towing a person or persons on water skis, aquaplane, surfboard, or similar device unless there is in such vessel a competent person, in addition to the operator, in a position to observe t…

(a) Vessels required to display capacity plate. Every vessel less than twenty-six (26) feet in length designed to carry two (2) or more persons and to be propelled by machinery as its principal source of power or designed to be propelled by oars, shall, if manufactured or offered…

Exhibitions. (a) Agency may regulate. The Guam Police Department may regulate the holding of regattas, motorboat or other boat races, marine parades, tournaments or exhibitions which, by their nature, circumstance or location will introduce extra or unusual hazards to the safety …

(a) Definitions: (1) Aids to navigation mean buoys, beacons or other fixed objects in the water which are used to mark obstruction to navigation or to direct safe channels. (2) Regulatory markers mean any anchored or fixed marker in or on the water or sign on the shore or on a br…

The Guam Police Department is hereby authorized to make special rules and regulations with reference to the operation of vessels on any waters within the territorial limits of Guam. SOURCE: GC § 8995.24, as renumbered by P.L. 15-54.

The Guam Police Department is hereby authorized to inaugurate a comprehensive boating safety and boating education program, to establish appropriate advisory committees, and to seek the cooperation of boatmen, the Federal government and other states of the United States. The Guam…

The owner of a vessel shall be liable for any injury or damage occasioned by the negligent operation of such vessel whether such negligence consists of a violation of the provisions of the statutes of this Territory or neglecting to observe such ordinary care in such operation as…

A copy of the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this Chapter, and of any amendments thereto, shall be filed in the office of the Guam Police Department. Rules and regulations shall be published by the Guam Police Department in convenient form. SOURCE: GC § 8995.27, as ren…

(a) The Chief of Police shall be the territorial administrator under the Federal Boating Safety Act of 1972. (b) The Director shall cooperate with the United States Coast Guard and other appropriate agencies of the Federal government in the enforcement of this Act and all applica…

(a) Authority to stop and board. Any person empowered to enforce the provisions of this Act and of any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto shall have the authority to stop and board any vessel subject to this Act for the purpose of inspection or determining compliance wit…

(a) Any person who violates any provision of ''69102, 69104, 69113, 69115, 69117 and 69121 of this Chapter or the implementing regulations shall be guilty of a violation and shall be subject to a fine of not less than Ten Dollars ($10.00) nor more than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) for …

If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisi…

As used in this Chapter: (a) Operating under the influence or while intoxicated means any person operating or in physical control of any motorboat or vessel, or similar device under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or a controlled substance or a combination thereof, when as…

Causing Bodily Injury to Person Other than Operator; Alcoholic Content in Blood; Proof. (a) It is unlawful for any person, while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or any controlled substance, or under the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage and any con- trolled…

(a) Upon the trial of any criminal action, or preliminary proceeding in a criminal action, arising out of acts alleged to have been committed by any person while operating or being in actual physical control of any motorboat or vessel, or similar device, while under the influence…

Punishment. (a) If any person is convicted of a first violation of '69201 of this Chapter, that person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections (‘DOC’) or the Guam Police Department (‘GPD’) for not less…

(a) If any person is convicted of a violation of § 69201 of this Chapter and the offense occurred within five (5) years of a separate conviction of a violation of said § 69201 or of conviction of a prior offense as defined in § 69201(c) of this Chapter, that person shall be guilt…

Years After Two Violations; Punishment. (a) If any person is convicted of a violation of § 69201 of this Chapter and the offense occurred within five (5) years of two (2) separate convictions of a violation of said § 69201 or of two (2) separate convictions of a prior offense as …

Years of Three or More Violations of Designated Sections; Punishment. (a) If any person is convicted of a violation of § 69201 of this Chapter and the offense occurred within five (5) years of three (3) or more separate convictions of a violation of said § 69201 or of three (3) o…

(a) Any person convicted of violating the provisions of § 69201 of this Chapter three (3) or more times, as provided in § 69206 of this Chapter, shall forfeit the motorboat or vessel in which the third offense, or more, was committed. However, in those cases where there is a show…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person convicted of a violation of § 69201 of this Chapter shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree if at the time of his or her arrest the person was operating a motorboat or vessel in which a child under the age of sixteen (1…

Felony. Any violation of Subsections (c) or (d) of § 69201 of this Chapter shall be a felony of the third degree.

(a) A person is guilty of motorboat or vessel homicide if, while, he or she does any act forbidden by law in the operation of any motorboat or vessel or if he or she negligently operates a motorboat or vessel, which act or negligence proximately causes death to any person other t…

Violations. The fact that any person charged with operating a motorboat or vessel under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance or a combination thereof, in violation of § 69201 of this Chapter, is or has been entitled to use a controlled substance shall not constitu…

Vessel to Submit to Blood, or Breath Testing to Determine Alcohol or Controlled Substances Content of Blood. (a) Any person who operates a motorboat or vessel within Guam’s Exclusive Economic Zone shall be deemed to have given consent to a blood or breath test for the purpose of …