1. PORT ACCESS ROUTE STUDIES AN UPDATE
NAVSAC
4 - 5 MAY 2016

2. PORT ACCESS ROUTE STUDY (PARS)
Coast Guard is required (by law) to conduct a PARS before establishing new or adjusting existing fairways or TSS’s.
Consult/coordinate with Federal, State, and foreign state agencies (as appropriate) and maritime community representatives, environmental groups, and other interested stakeholders.
Primary purpose of this coordination is, to the extent practicable, to reconcile the need for safe access routes with other reasonable waterway uses.
PARS process (complete or modified) may be used to determine and justify if safety zones, security zones, recommended routes, regulated navigation areas and other routing measures should be created

3. ACPARS

4. MOST SIGNIFICANT OUTCOMES
Marine Planning Guidelines (MPGs) (Enclosure 2)
Identification of Alongshore Towing Vessel Routes (Appendix VII)
Major Deep Draft Routes (Appendix VII)

5. MARINE PLANNING GUIDELINES
Developed using input from:
– Confed. of European Shipmasters’ Assoc. (CESMA)
– World Shipping Council (WSC)
– UK Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) MGN-371
– German Waterways and Shipping Directorates
Major topics:
– Port Approaches and Traffic Separation Schemes (TSSs)
– Along Shore Routes
– Offshore Deep Draft Routes
– Navigational Safety Corridors
– Other Considerations
Contributions to Risk
Mitigations

6. USES OF MARINE PLANNING GUIDELINES
Will assist in initial Area Identification
Assist offshore developers/marine planners in evaluating navigational impacts of their project
Navigation Safety Risk Assessments (NSRA) – development and review
Consider sea space to safe maneuvers
Appropriate separation distances
Non-regulatory
TSSs, alongshore routes and offshore deep draft routes
Evaluation of any other type projects

7. IDENTIFICATION OF ALONGSHORE TOWING VESSEL ROUTES
Identified traditional tug and barge routes
– Applied MPGs to routes to identify Navigation (Safety) Corridors
– 9 NM for tug and barges

8. NAVIGATION SAFETY CORRIDORS

9. IDENTIFICATION OF MAJOR DEEP DRAFT ROUTES
Identified major deep draft routes
Applied MPGs to a lesser degree due to deep draft traffic location and wind farm interaction
10 NM for deep draft vessels

10. DEEP DRAFT ROUTES

11. ALL TOGETHER

12. WAY AHEAD
Final Report is complete. Published in Federal Register on March 14, 2016.
Report to Congress
30 Day comment period closed on April 13
Comments under review
Posted on
Apply navigation corridors during marine planning activities
Develop Navigation corridors into shipping safety fairways or other routing measures (U.S. Regulations and IMO submissions)
Incorporate MPGs in future Coast Guard documents

13. BERING STRAIT PARS Started in 2010 Comments reviewed
Continued and expanded in 2014
Continuation included a proposed route for comment
Comment period closed / comments are under review
AIS data being analyzed
Some surveying of route conducted by NOAA
Couple of areas that appear to warrant further evaluation for unknown hazards, but most of the route was described as “flat and featureless”
Final Report being drafted
Final Report published in Federal Register w/comment period
IMO submission if recommended

14. PROPOSED ROUTE

15. NANTUCKET SOUND PARS Mandated by CG Authorization Act
Utilize the “standards and methodology of the ACPARS”
First District conducting
Announced in Federal Register
Comment period closes 20 June 2016
Outreach being conducted
Completion date 1 DEC 2016
Report to Congress
Act on recommendations as required

16. George Detweiler George.H.Detweiler@uscg.mil 202-372-1566
QUESTIONS
George Detweiler

17. LIFE JACKETS
December 31, 2015, two new standards for personal flotation devices were published
ANSI/CAN/UL , Standard for Personal Flotation Devices – Part 5: Buoyancy Aids (Level 50) – Safety Requirements
ANSI/CAN/UL , Standard for Personal Flotation Devices – Part 9: Test Methods.
USCG and Transport Canada working on transition plan for adoption of new standards
Full transition to take several years
POC for info is:
Jacqi Yurkovich

18. UMS History High Interest – NOAA, USN, Public, Industry
IMO showing signs of interest
MSC 95/INF.20 paper “The IMO regulatory framework and its application to Marine Autonomous Systems” by UK, IAIN, IMarEST
US submitted TRENDS, DEVELOPMENTS, AND CHALLENGES (TDCs) on UMS
MSC 96 – Lunchtime Presentation by UK’s specially formed and focused industry-led group, MASRWG, in existence since August 2014
Review Best Practices (BP) document with goal toward NAVSAC Resolution
USCG develop draft BPs and share with NOAA, USN, Public, Industry for comment
USCG publish final BPs