The US Coast Guard announced in the Federal Register that it starts a new study of routes used by ships to access ports on the Atlantic Coast of the US. This new study comes to be added on and builds on the Atlantic Coast Port Access Route Study (ACPARS) completed April 5, 2017.
The Ports and Waterways Safety Act mandates the USCG to study possible traffic density and assess the need for safe access routes for ships. The US Coast Guard coordinates with Federal and State agencies, and considers the views of the maritime community, environmental groups, and other interested stakeholders in order to reconcile the need for safe access routes with other reasonable waterway uses in the study area.
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Moreover, US Coast Guard district commanders will focus on and schedule a Port Access Route Study for specific port approaches and international transit areas regarding the proposed ACPARS fairways within their areas of responsibilities. They will post these milestones on the docket by May 1, 2019. This initiative is expected to be completed by May 2021.
In addition, the study will analyze navigation routes to/from the ports identified to the proposed fairways described in the ACPARS as well as international routes to/from the US. Current capabilities and planned improvements in these ports to handle maritime conveyances will be considered as well.
Furthermore, the US Coast Guard will also analyze ports that are economically significant, that support military operations or are strategic for national defense along the Atlantic. This includes but is not limited to the following:
First Coast Guard District
- Kennebec River/Bath, Maine
- Port of Portland, Maine
- Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- New Bedford, Massachusetts
- Port of Boston, Massachusetts
- Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island
- Long Island Sound Eastern Entrances
- Groton, Connecticut
- New Haven Harbor, Connecticut
- Port of New York and New Jersey, including Port Elizabeth and Newark
Fifth Coast Guard District
- Port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including Camden-Gloucester City, New Jersey, Port of Wilmington, Delaware and New Castle, Delaware
- Port of Baltimore, Maryland
- Port of Virginia including Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton Roads, Virginia
- Morehead City, North Carolina
- Wilmington, North Carolina
Seventh Coast Guard District
- Port of Charleston, South Carolina
- Port of Savannah, Georgia
- Brunswick, Georgia
- Kings Bay, Georgia
- Port of Jacksonville, Florida
- Port Canaveral, Florida
- Port Everglades, Florida
- Port of Miami, Florida
