The U.S. Coast Guard today announced that it is seeking comments by Wednesday, May 12 on its efforts to conduct a Port Access Route Study to evaluate the adequacy of existing vessel routing measures and whether additional vessel routing measures are necessary for port approaches to New York and New Jersey and international and domestic transit areas in the First District area in order to improve navigation safety due to factors such as planned or potential offshore development, current port capabilities and planned improvements, increased vessel traffic, existing and potential anchorage areas, changing vessel traffic patterns, weather conditions, or navigational difficulty.
The study area extends ~150 nautical miles seaward and covers ~25,000 square nautical miles including the offshore area of New Jersey and New York used by private, commercial, and public vessels transiting to and from these ports. Study recommendations may lead to future rulemakings or international agreements.
