Providing safe and efficient navigation of the nation’s waterways and coastal areas is constantly challenged by larger ships and other maritime uses like wind farms and energy development, while navigation methods are moving increasingly into the digital age. That was the message navigation experts had for Congress this week.
Vessels delivering goods in U.S. ports have grown in size from an average of 820 feet to more than 1,150 feet in just a few decades, and their beams have increased by 50 percent, Rear Adm. Joseph Servidio, assistant Coast Guard commandant for prevention policy, told the House Coast Guard subcommittee on Feb. 4.
“With the increased size of these ships, the margin of error for safe navigation in our nation’s waterways is getting much smaller,” he said. “Today’s mariners require more timely, accurate and consistent information to help manage the increasing risk. In the future, visual and electronic aides will continue to define high-risk sea lanes and exclusion areas. They will support the real-time delivery of safety and security information, as well as identify navigation hazards associated with natural and man-made events.”
He said navigation systems would also have to consider many other influences on navigation safety, such as aquaculture, minerals extraction and renewable energy development. “There are currently 12 Wind Energy Areas being considered for the Atlantic Coast,” Servidio said. “These require the Coast Guard to develop, mark and broadcast for the mariner a system of traffic separation schemes and fairways around the proposed structures.”
In the spotlight at hearing was the development of e-navigation, which is the international and national effort to harmonize the collection, integration, exchange and presentation of marine information onboard vessels and onshore. E-navigation is considered by many to be the future for managing vessel traffic around the globe.
Lawmakers wanted an update on implementing this digital delivery of information. They had questions about the savings and efficiencies that could result, but also asked about some of the drawbacks of such a system.
“I am concerned that as an e-navigation system is built out, adequate redundancies and backup systems are put in place to ensure safety,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., subcommittee chairman.
Three federal agencies — the Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — are currently working to develop a way to deliver electronic maritime safety information and navigation services.
E-navigation tools were used to mark boundaries of last summer’s America’s Cup races in San Francisco, Servidio said, and the Corps of Engineers is now placing 109 physical Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) stations at various locks along western rivers. In 2013, AIS stations were deployed to support Arctic navigation and marine safety in Alaska.
But some say that relying solely on e-navigation is not prudent. Virtual aids should only be one tool in the navigation toolbox.
“A blend of two systems is most likely the future of safe navigation on our nation’s waterways.” said Capt. Lynn Korwatch, executive director of the Marine Exchange of San Francisco Bay Region, which tracks ships as they arrive through the Golden Gate. “Visual aides should be used to augment and enhance navigation versus the goal to solely eliminate aids as a way to reduce costs. This philosophy would be a better way to serve waterway users.”
