33 CFR § 149.691 - What means of escape are required?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t33/s149.691"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "33 CFR § 149.691 - What means of escape are required?"
title_number: 33
title_name: "Navigation and Navigable Waters"
section_number: "149.691"
section_name: "What means of escape are required?"
chapter_name: "COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY"
subchapter_number: "NN"
subchapter_name: "DEEPWATER PORTS"
part_number: "149"
part_name: "DEEPWATER PORTS: DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND EQUIPMENT"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "33 U.S.C. 1504, 1509; DHS Delegation No. 00170.1, Revision No. 01.4."
regulatory_source: "USCG-1998-3884, 71 FR 57651, Sept. 29, 2006, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "149"
---


# 149.691 What means of escape are required?

(a) Each deepwater port must have both primary and secondary means of escape. Each of these means must either:

(1) Comply with 46 CFR 108.151; or

(2) Be designed and installed in compliance with a national consensus standard, as that term is defined in 29 CFR 1910.2, for use in evacuating the deepwater port.

(b) A primary means of escape consists of a fixed stairway or a fixed ladder, constructed of steel.

(c) A secondary means of escape consists of either:

(1) A fixed stairway or a fixed ladder, constructed of steel; or

(2) A marine evacuation system, a portable flexible ladder, a knotted manrope, or a similar device determined by the Sector Commander, or MSU Commander with COTP and OCMI authority to provide an equivalent or better means of escape.

[USCG-1998-3884, 71 FR 57651, Sept. 29, 2006, as amended by USCG-2013-0397, 78 FR 39180, July 1, 2013]