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maritime -- NOAA Advisory Concerning Changes to the Traffic Separation Scheme
Posted: 07 May 2013 11:05:48
The purpose of this list serve notice is to help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) broadcast an advisory concerning changes to the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Santa Barbara Channel and in San Francisco. NOAA has requested and the California Air Resources Board has agreed to provide outreach through the Maritime List Serve to help broadcast the advisory to mariners. SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL TRAFFIC SEPARATION SCHEME AMENDMENT The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is amending the Traffic Separation Scheme in the Santa Barbara Channel and the approach to the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, effective June 1, 2013. The TSS amendment will reduce the width of the separation zone from 2 nautical miles (nm) to 1 nm by shifting the inbound lane shoreward and away from known whale concentrations. The outbound lane will remain unchanged in the current location. Narrowing the separation zone is expected to reduce co-occurrence of ships and whales while maintaining navigation safety. SAN FRANCISCO TRAFFIC SEPARATION SCHEME AMENDMENT The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is amending the San Francisco Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) effective June 1, 2013. The San Francisco TSS is located within the Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries, as well as prime commercial fishing grounds. The Coast Guard maintains a Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) in the port of San Francisco and the TSS is located entirely within the VTS coverage area. The TSS adjustments will be made in an effort to enhance navigational safety and mitigate the co-occurrence of endangered marine species with commercial vessel traffic. For the official USCG Local Notice to Mariners (LNM) please see: http://navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lnms/lnm11172013.pdf and go to p.2; for the IMO approved coordinates and graphics depicting the TSS amendments go to the enclosures section in the LNM.