The Steamboat Inspection Service was a United States agency created in 1871 to safeguard lives and property at sea.

The Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation's responsibilities were transferred temporarily to the United States Coast Guard in 1942.

The safety inspection of merchant vessels documented under the flag of the United States has been authorized in varying degrees by Congress and required by law since 1838.

In the early days, the United States Congress hesitated to pass adequate safety laws for fear of interfering with the growing and economically important steamboat industry.

Probably its most serious shortcoming was the exemption of freightboats, ferries, tugboats, and towboats, which continued to operate under the superficial inspection requirements of the Act of 1838.

Furthermore, it established a Supervisory Inspector General directly responsible to the United States Secretary of the Treasury, extended licensing requirements to all masters and chief mates, provided for the revocation of licenses, authorized periodic inspection, and gave the Board of Supervisory Inspectors the authority to prescribe nautical rules of the road.

On February 14, 1903, congressional action transferred the Steamboat Inspection Service to the newly created United States Department of Commerce and Labor.

L., 415) under which the Steamboat Inspection Service lost its independent identity and was merged with the Bureau of Navigation, which had been created in 1884 to oversee the regulation of merchant seamen.

After the United States entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a wartime measure signed Executive Order 9083 on February 28, 1942.

On July 16, 1946, Reorganization Plan Number 3 abolished the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation and transferred all of its functions permanently to the U.S. Coast Guard.

In an attempt to promote better service to the maritime industry as well as the general public, the marine inspection and Captain of the Port/port safety functions were combined.

These requirements not only cover life saving and fire fighting equipment, but also machinery and electrical installations, hull strength and stability considerations.