Section 1919.6 - Criteria governing accreditation to certificate vessels' cargo gear(a)(1) A person applying for accreditation to issue registers and pertinent certificates, to maintain registers and appropriate records, and to conduct initial, annual and quinquennial surveys, shall not be accredited unless that person is engaged in one or more of the following activities: (i) Classification of vessels;(ii) Certification of vessels' cargo gear;(iii) Shipbuilding or ship repairing, or both insofar as related to work on vessels' cargo handling gear;(iv) Unit and loose gear testing of vessels' cargo handling gear.(2) Applicants for accreditation under paragraph (a)(1) of this section for operations in coastal or Great Lakes ports who come within paragraph (a)(1) (ii) or (iv) shall not be accredited unless they conduct at least 1,500 hours of cargo gear certification work per year.(b) A person applying for accreditation to carry out tests of loose gear or wire rope, or both, or to carry out heat treatments, and to issue the related certificates, shall be engaged in one or both of the following activities: (1) Testing of loose gear or wire rope, or both;(2) Heat treatment of chains and loose cargo gear.(c)(1) A person applying for accreditation shall be staffed by individuals technically qualified to conduct the inspections and examinations and to conduct or supervise tests and heat treatments prescribed in this part. Any representatives, agents or surveyors acting on behalf of a person applying for accreditation in ports in which such operations are conducted shall be similarly qualified.(2) Accreditation to conduct such nondestructive examination as may be a part of any certification activity may be granted to applicants found competent and equipped to carry out this activity.(d) Except as noted in § 1919.1(c) , and unless exemptions are granted under § 1919.10(h) , a person applying for accreditation as specified in paragraph (a) of this section shall be prepared to carry out all of the requirements of subparts C, D, and E, of this part except that loose gear and wire rope tests and heat treatments may be carried out by the manufacturer of the gear concerned or by another person accredited specifically for this purpose.(e) A person applying for accreditation shall have a satisfactory record of performance, and shall be in sound financial condition.39 FR 22096, June 19, 1974, as amended at 76 FR 33610 , June 8, 2011