Following two years of discussions between the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other stakeholders concerning the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the International Maritime Organization approved the U.S. proposal to move large ship traffic farther offshore to protect the largest marine protected area in the U.S.
The 4,000-plus large vessels which transit the central California coast each year will, as of Dec. 1, have to travel farther out from the current 2.5 to 15 nautical miles offshore to 13 to 30 nautical miles out (tankers are already traveling at least 50 nautical miles out.)
The agreement's specific purpose is to protect the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the Gulf of the Farallones and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuaries from potentially hazardous spills.
The new agreement spans the north-south shipping lanes between Big Sur and San Mateo, Calif. and includes an extension of vessel traffic separation lanes in the western end of the Santa Barbara Channel and rotating the southern-most approach into San Francisco Bay farther offshore to reduce grounding risk. The new traffic separation commences July 15.
New offshore distances are gauged by ship-type, which will mean ships carrying hazardous cargoes must transit 25 to 30 nautical miles from shore and barges carrying oil or hazardous materials in bulk, will have to stay 25 nautical miles offshore.
It's expected that overall transit times will be increased by up to 30 minutes.
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