If you spend time in a boat, whether for work or recreational use – you may want to take a look at this new app that was developed by the U.S. Coast Guard. Their mission is to minimize loss of life, personal injury, property damage, and environmental harm.

The organization is our nation’s recreational boating safety coordinator, and this new boating safety initiative involves regulation of boat design and construction, public education programs, boating safety equipment approvals, as well as vessel safety checks to ensure regulatory compliance with federal and state safety requirements.

Our nation’s ports and marinas nationwide are experiencing huge growth in maritime business fro both business and recreational boaters. ProComplianceWareâ„¢ compliance management system helps marinas and ports manage regulatory compliance. Ultimately this  reduces the risk of penalties and fines from government regulations for the environment, as well as health, safety, and security.

The Coast Guard Mobile App is available for both iOS and Android platforms, and supports these missions by providing the information and service most commonly requested by boaters. App features include: free boating safety check requests; state boating information; a safety equipment checklist; float plans; navigation rules; and calling features so that users can report suspicious activity or pollution.

Once enabled, the app’s location services will send boaters the latest weather reports from the closest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather buoys as well as report the location of a hazard on the water.

On special feature included in this safety app is its button for emergency assistance button which, when locations services is enabled, will call the closest Coast Guard command center. Though not designed to replace a boater’s marine VHF radio, the Boating Safety Mobile app was designed to provide additional boating safety resources for mobile device users. The Coast Guard recommends all boaters have a VHF marine radio aboard their vessels.

A self-contained app, personal information is stored on the phone and is not sent to the Coast Guard unless a user chooses to send it. What’s more, the Coast Guard will never track a user’s location, and the app does not track a user’s location unless it is being used.

You can download the app from your app store or click here.