How to Fill Out CG-2692 in 10 Minutes: A Line-by-Line Walkthrough for Operators

You don't get a heads-up before you need a CG-2692. The first time I filled one out, I'd just had a deckhand take a hand injury during a line handling operation. Vessel fine. Deckhand at Queens. I had five days to file, but I sat down at my kitchen table that night because I knew if I didn't do it cold, I'd be doing it tired and stressed three days later.

Here's the line-by-line walkthrough I use now, plus a real example based on a tugboat allision in Honolulu Harbor — not a Hollywood disaster, just a normal bad day with a paperwork tail.

Why this matters

• The 5-day clock is real. 46 CFR §4.05-1 requires written notice within 5 days of any marine casualty. Miss it and the casualty becomes a separate finding on top of whatever happened.
• CG-2692 is the form whether you like it or not. Form CG-2692 is the Coast Guard's standard Report of Marine Casualty. There is no easier alternative for reportable events.
• What you write becomes the inspector's first impression. The form is the narrative the investigating officer reads first. Sloppy writing produces aggressive follow-up. Precise writing usually produces routine follow-up.

When CG-2692 is required

A "marine casualty" under 46 CFR §4.03-1 includes:

• Grounding or stranding
• Allision (striking a fixed object) or collision (striking another vessel)
• Fire or explosion that disrupts operations
• Loss of propulsion or steering that endangers vessel or others
• Significant structural damage affecting seaworthiness
• Person overboard (whether recovered or not)
• Death or injury requiring professional medical treatment beyond first aid
• Property damage greater than $75,000
• Hazardous condition under 33 CFR §160.215

If you're unsure, err toward filing. Failing to file a borderline case is a worse finding than over-filing.

Near-miss vs reportable casualty

A near-miss is not a reportable casualty. The deckhand who almost fell overboard, the close-quarters that resolved without contact, the small fire put out before it spread — these are internal safety findings, not Coast Guard filings. But if any of them caused property damage over $75k, professional medical care, or a hazardous condition, the threshold flips.

Who files

Per 46 CFR §4.05-1(a), the owner, agent, master, or person in charge is responsible. In practice the master writes the narrative, the operator signs, and the two coordinate. If you have an SMS, run the SMS investigation in parallel — it feeds the form. Don't do them in series.

The 10-minute walkthrough

CG-2692 has six main sections (the current revision uses Roman numerals I-VI plus a signature block). Here's what each one wants and how to fill it without slowing down.

Section I — Vessel particulars

Pulled directly from the COI: Official Number, vessel name, hailing port, type/service, gross/net tonnage, length/breadth/depth, year built, hull material, propulsion, owner/operator. Keep a vessel reference card and you fill this in 60 seconds.

Section II — Casualty data

Date and time (local + UTC), location (narrative + lat/lon), visibility/sea state/wind/current, and type of casualty matched to the §4.03-1 list. Time in UTC matters — if you log in HST on the bridge, write both. UTC for the Coast Guard, HST in parentheses. Don't make the investigator do the math.

Section III — Personnel

For each person involved: name, role aboard, credential type and number (for crew), location aboard at time of casualty, injury severity (none / first aid / professional medical / fatal). Passengers or shore-side workers go here too — their CG-2692-1 personal injury addendum files separately, but reference them here.

Section IV — Sequence of events

This gets re-read by every investigator. Write it as a clean chronological narrative in normal English. Three principles:

1. Lead with the timeline. "At 1342 HST (2342 UTC) on 18 April 2026, the vessel was making 4.5 kts approach to Pier 7..."
2. Stick to facts you observed. "The vessel contacted the pier at the bow port quarter" — not "the captain misjudged the approach."
3. Cover the whole arc. Normal operations → trigger → response → outcome. End with current status.

Aim for 200-400 words. Longer is unfocused. Shorter is suspicious.

Section V — Damage

Vessel damage with location and estimate, other vessel/property damage, pollution (yes/no, type, quantity, MISLE# if reported separately), cargo damage. Use insurance language carefully — "Estimated $45,000 to repair pier fendering, insurance assessor scheduled" is better than a guess.

Section VI — Cause and contributing factors

This is where operators get burned. The Coast Guard wants the probable cause based on facts at hand — not a confession, an honest preliminary assessment. Categories: human error (specify: navigation, communication, training), equipment failure, environmental, or other.

Do not write "captain error" without context — that's a phrase a plaintiff's lawyer quotes in deposition. Write what factually happened: "Approach speed of 4.5 kts was within company SOP for the conditions. Wind shift from 8 kts to 18 kts gusting from 045° during the final 200 ft of approach was not anticipated and contributed to the contact."

Signature block

Master's signature and date, owner/operator signature and date. Both required; if the owner is unavailable an authorized agent can sign with documentation.

A real example: tugboat allision in Honolulu Harbor

Here's a worked CG-2692 narrative based on the kind of incident that's neither rare nor catastrophic — exactly the case operators most often have to file.

Scenario: M/V Kona Lani, 78-ft Z-drive tugboat, O.N. 1234567, owned by Pacific Towing LLC. While assisting a 600-ft container ship to berth at Pier 51, Honolulu Harbor, a sudden 18-kt gust from 045° during the final approach caused the tug's stern to contact the inboard pier corner. Damage to pier fendering ($28,000 estimated). No vessel damage above the waterline, minor scuff to stern bulwark. No injuries. No pollution.

Section II key fields:

• Date/time: 18 April 2026, 1342 HST / 2342 UTC
• Location: Pier 51, Honolulu Harbor, 21°18.4'N 157°51.7'W
• Type: Allision

Section IV (sequence of events) sample text:

At 1342 HST on 18 April 2026, M/V Kona Lani was assisting M/V Pacific Trader (O.N. 98765432) into berth at Pier 51, Honolulu Harbor. Kona Lani was made up to Pacific Trader's starboard quarter on a 60-ft soft-line at heading 285°T, making bare steerageway astern at approximately 1.0 kt. Conditions at the start of the assist (1320 HST) were wind 8 kt from 030°, sea calm, visibility 10+ nm, daylight. At approximately 1340 HST a wind shift occurred — observed at 18 kt gusting from 045° per Kona Lani's anemometer. Kona Lani's captain (Master, Mate of Towing 200 GT, 11 years experience) reduced power and called for line slack to reposition. During the 30-second window before Kona Lani could swing clear, the vessel's stern contacted the inboard corner of Pier 51's fender system at an estimated angle of 15° from perpendicular. Contact resulted in deflection of the pier's outermost fender pile and minor scuff to Kona Lani's stern bulwark above the waterline. No water ingress, no pollution, no injuries to crew of either vessel. Pacific Trader completed berthing with assistance from a second tug. Kona Lani returned to her home berth at 1430 HST under own power. Vessel and crew remain in service pending this report.

Section VI sample text:

Probable cause: environmental. Wind shift from 8 kt 030° to 18 kt 045° during the final phase of the assist was not forecast in the 0600 HST harbor brief and was not anticipated by the master. Approach speed and angle were within company SOP for forecast conditions. Visibility was unimpaired, equipment operational, no training gaps identified. Corrective action: company has updated harbor SOP to require a wind check every 30 minutes during ship-handling operations and to abort if wind shifts >5 kt within 15 minutes. Training memo issued to all masters 21 April 2026.

Honest, complete, factual, and avoids language a plaintiff's lawyer would weaponize.

Common gotchas

Filing late because the master was distracted by the operational fallout. The 5-day clock starts at the casualty, not at the moment your stress level returns to normal. Block the time the day after the incident.

Vague Section IV narratives. "Vessel hit pier" is not a sequence of events. Investigators interpret vagueness as concealment.

Speculative cause statements. Write what happened. Don't write what you think probably caused it unless the facts support that conclusion.

Forgetting the dual signature. Master + owner/operator. Form is incomplete with one missing.

Mixing up CG-2692, CG-2692A (barge addendum), CG-2692B (drug/alcohol addendum), and CG-2692-1 (personal injury addendum). A drug/alcohol-positive event needs the B addendum. A passenger injury needs the -1. Read the form instructions and attach the right addenda.

What happens after you file

The Coast Guard Investigating Officer reviews and picks one of three paths: routine (file accepted, no follow-up — most minor casualties end here), investigation (IO opens formal investigation; expect letters requesting logbooks, AIS data, drill records, and possibly an interview), or Suspension and Revocation action against involved mariners if findings warrant. You can request a copy of the IO's report when the investigation closes — useful for insurance and SMS lessons-learned. Cite the MISLE case number in your request.

What Binnacle AI does for this

Binnacle AI's incident module captures the data CG-2692 wants at the moment the incident is reported — vessel particulars, time/location, personnel involved, environmental conditions, sequence of events — in a structured form that maps directly to the CG-2692 fields. When the 5-day filing window opens, you generate a CG-2692 draft as a pre-filled PDF, review with your master and counsel, sign, and submit. The same data feeds your SMS investigation and your Inspection Pack so the next COI inspector has full context. One paperwork stream, not three.

Try the free calculator

If you don't have an incident management system in place yet, start with the basics:

[Try the free compliance calculator →](/compliance-calculator)

Enter your vessel specs and we'll build a 46 CFR checklist with citations — including casualty reporting obligations under §4.05-1. For the form itself, pull the current revision from the eCFR and the USCG Forms page before any incident — having a blank copy aboard is a 30-second prep step that pays off the day you need it.

Capt J is the founder of Binnacle AI. He runs a small maritime tech company on Oʻahu that builds compliance tools for commercial fleets. None of this article is legal advice and Binnacle AI is not affiliated with the U.S. Coast Guard. Consult a qualified maritime attorney for specific regulatory questions, especially those involving casualty investigations or potential liability. All CFR citations refer to the current Code of Federal Regulations as of publication date; confirm against eCFR before filing or inspection.