CHAPTER 5F: VESSEL TRAFFIC SAFETY
The waters offshore California and within its ports provide for shipping by U.S. and foreign flag tanker, cargo, and passenger ships, as well as barges. These waters are also used by other watercraft, such as sport and commercial fishing vessels and recreational vessels. While the vast majority of vessel transits are conducted safely, a number of unfortunate shipping mishaps and near misses in recent years have focused national attention on the issue of vessel traffic safety.
BACKGROUND
Substantial volumes of petroleum products are transported off the California coast from Alaska, foreign countries, and between California production sources. The Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Francisco Bay ports include some of the highest volume oil transfer facilities in the United States. Unfortunately, collisions or ship groundings off the California coast, or within its sometimes congested ports, can occur as a result of these operations.
Vessel Accidents Off the California Coast
The most recent major vessel collision off the California coast occurred in 1987 when the Atlantic Wing (a car carrier) and the Pac Baroness (a freighter) collided off Point Conception, sinking the Pac Baroness. Fortunately the spill of fuel oil was small, but a cargo of toxic copper powder went down with the ship. The decade of the 1990's began with two major spills in Southern California that occurred during routine mooring operations at offshore marine terminals. In 1990, the tanker vessel American Trader grounded on its own anchor during mooring operations at the Golden West marine terminal off Huntington Beach. This accident caused a major oil spill but gained even more notoriety because it occurred within months of the tanker vessel Exxon Valdez grounding in Alaska. In 1991, a mooring accident involving the tanker vessel Omi Dynachem occurred at the El Segundo marine terminal off Los Angeles. During mooring operations a vessel anchor got caught on a 26 inch undersea pipeline, pulled it from the ocean floor to the surface, and caused it to rupture. These accidents demonstrated the need for Government and industry to develop and implement improved measures to prevent vessel accidents.
Vessel Accidents Within or Near Port Facilities
Over the years, several accidents and close calls have occurred within, or on approach to, the State's ports. In 1971, two Chevron tankers collided under the Golden Gate Bridge causing a major oil spill in San Francisco Bay. The spill substantially impacted the bay, as well as adversely impacting other environmentally sensitive areas such as the Duxbury Reef located about 15 miles north of the bay's entrance. In 1988, the Arco Juneau ran into the Carquinez Bridge, rupturing tanks that fortunately were empty at the time. In 1989, just three weeks after the Exxon Valdez grounding, the Exxon contract ship Overseas Juneau collided with the Richmond Longwharf in San Francisco bay, destroying a portion of the ship's structure. Fortunately, the damage inflicted on the ship did not
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include the rupture of any of its oil cargo tanks. In Southern California, accidents and close calls have also occurred. According to the Marine Exchange of Los Angeles - Long Beach Harbor, a potentially disastrous collision between two loaded tankers in 1981 and close calls such as a 1982 case involving two passenger ships, a freighter, and a tanker, point to the need for enhanced safety measures. Close calls still occur even with many new protective measures being in place. During one week in February of 1994, the Marine Exchange logged four close calls, one of which involved a ship bound for the Port of Los Angeles that crossed into oncoming shipping lanes while increasing its speed to beat another ship to the breakwater. This action also resulted in the vessel coming dangerously close to another ship leaving the Port of Long Beach.
Navigation Designations and Organizations
A variety of measures have been established to help reduce the risk of vessel mishaps off the coast or within California ports. To facilitate a better understanding of the options for improving vessel traffic safety, several terms and organizations are described below.
Harbor Safety Committees. Senate Bill 2040 (Chapter 1248, Stats.1990) established harbor safety committees for the ports of San Diego, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Hueneme, San Francisco, and Humboldt. With representatives from shipping, fishing, tug operation, vessel pilot, government, and environmental organizations, these committees have developed harbor safety plans for each port, identifying key safety issues and making recommendations to the Administrator for the Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response. Major issues facing these committees include questions regarding the need for escort tugs, required capabilities of escort tugs, and/or need for new or enhanced vessel traffic information systems to monitor and advise vessel traffic.
Precautionary Areas. Precautionary areas are designated in congested areas near harbor entrances to set speed limits or establish other safety precautions for ships entering or departing the port.
Safety Fairways. Offshore waters in high traffic areas can be designated as safety fairways to prohibit the placement of surface structures such as oil platforms. The Army Corps of Engineers is prohibited from issuing permits for surface structures within safety fairways, which are frequently located between a port and the entry into a Traffic Separation Scheme (described below).
Traffic Separation Schemes. A Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) is an internationally recognized vessel routing designation which separates opposing flows of vessel traffic into lanes, including a zone between lanes where traffic is to be avoided. TSSs have been designated to help direct offshore vessel traffic along portions of the California coastline such as the Santa Barbara Channel. Vessels are not required to use any designated TSS, but failure to use one, if available, would be a major factor for determining liability in the event of a collision. TSS designations are proposed by the U.S. Coast Guard, but must be approved by the International Maritime Organization which is part of the United Nations.
Vessel Traffic Information Services. Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) or Vessel Traffic Information Service (VTIS) refer to shipping services run by the U.S. Coast Guard or public/private sector consortiums. These services identify and monitor ship movement, location, and routing within, on approach to, or during departure from, California port facilities. These services use radar, radio,
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and visual inputs to gather real time vessel traffic information and broadcast traffic advisories and summaries to assist mariners. California has one VTS located in San Francisco Bay which federally funded and operated. A VTIS is located at the entrance of the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach which is currently funded and operated through a public/private partnership arrangement.
State and Federal Legislation
In the aftermath of Alaska's Exxon Valdez (1989) and California's American Trader (1990) oil spills, the California legislature passed the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of 1990 (Senate Bill 2040, Chapter 1248, Stats.1990) and the U.S. Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 to 2761). Both the State and federal legislation address a variety of issues regarding vessel traffic safety. Both statutes emphasize the need to prevent spills through the implementation of marine terminal operation standards and inspections, port safety measures, and overall vessel traffic safety. The State Lands Commission operates a marine terminal inspection program, as required by SB 2040, which is coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). Port safety issues are being addressed by the Harbor Safety Committees. As described below, offshore vessel traffic safety issues are being analyzed by the USCG in coordination with the State of California, the shipping industry, and public interest groups.
ISSUE ANALYSIS
Traffic Separation Schemes
The TSS in the Santa Barbara Channel extends from the waters north of Los Angeles to Point Conception. After its original designation, the USCG received approval from the International Maritime Organization to alter the route of the Santa Barbara Channel TSS near Anacapa Island to accommodate the location of an oil and gas drilling platform. The USCG developed three additional proposals to establish a new routing system off the coast of Central California from Point Conception north to the entrance of San Francisco Bay to enhance vessel traffic safety. For various reasons, none of these proposals were implemented.
A key factor precluding a central coast TSS designation in the past was the objection by the Minerals Management Service regarding the impact of these designations on potential oil and gas development leasing. The USCG has never proposed a routing system for the North Coast, although operators transporting Alaska north slope oil to San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles area ports have agreed to remain at least 50 miles offshore during transit (oil spill trajectory analyses indicate that the probability of oil spills reaching the coast is substantially lessened if spills occur farther offshore). The current agreement with these operators is informal and has never been mandatory under State, federal, or international law. Studies are now underway to determine if additional navigation safety measures are needed to reduce the chance of accidents off the California coast.
Port Access Route Study. Section 2203(d) of the federal Marine Protection and Research Act requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the State of California, to report to Congress on vessel traffic risk within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. In response to this requirement, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
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Administration (NOAA) and USCG initiated a vessel traffic study for Monterey and the three other national marine sanctuaries in California. This "Port Access Route Study" is addressing existing risks and evaluating the potential need for new vessel routing measures within the approaches to California ports and/or for additional measures to control vessel traffic in California's national marine sanctuaries. In an August 31, 1993 letter to Governor Wilson, the USCG described the specifics of the study:
"The study will document the density of vessel traffic and the routes they follow; identify environmental resources and their sensitivities; identify impact of vessels (all types) navigating near environmental resources; analyze the effect of potential oil spills; determine if the existing vessel routing measures are adequate in light of changing traffic patterns and the designation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; and, determine if vessel regulations are needed to protect sanctuary resources in the four offshore California national marine sanctuaries."
In conjunction with this effort, the USCG's 11th District has completed a related analysis called "Operation Crystal Ball." This analysis began on January 1, 1994 and recorded the course, speed, name, point of origin and destination point for each vessel observed in an attempt to better understand existing traffic patterns of commercial vessels.
The Port Access Route Study will help the USCG determine if another Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) or other safety measures should be proposed off the central coastline. If a TSS is proposed, the implementation of such a system would require lengthy deliberations to gain approval of the International Maritime Organization. Another possible approach would be for all vessel operators to agree to remain at least 50 miles off the coast where the probability of a spill reaching shore is highly unlikely. Movement of vessel traffic far enough off the coast could significantly reduce the chance of shoreline impact in the event of a spill and provide more time for tugs to arrive on scene to prevent tanker groundings. Routing vessels farther offshore would be far more effective at minimizing shoreline impacts than mobilizing an armada of oil spill response equipment in an attempt to combat a spill that occurs close to shore. The Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) has been evaluating this issue as part of their comprehensive coastal protection review required by SB 2040.
Western States Petroleum Association Study. In 1992, after consultation with the OSPR and USCG, 10 major oil company members of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) entered into voluntary non-binding agreements to route all tankers carrying crude oil from Alaska to California ports at least 50 nautical miles offshore. This commitment affects approximately 85% of all tankers delivering crude oil to the State of California (OSPR, 1991). However, the many other non-petroleum or hazardous cargos which enter California's ports by ship are not affected by this agreement. Since the original agreements were made, a tanker movement study was conducted by the WSPA which determined, based on interviews with its members, that almost 90% of all tanker traffic is at least 25 miles off the coast and nearly 50% is at least 50 miles offshore. Data from the USCG "Crystal Ball" operation will help verify the level of compliance with this agreement based on field observations.
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Center For Marine Conservation Study. The Center for Marine Conservation, a non-governmental organization, published its 1994 study titled, "Safe Passage: Preventing Oil Spills in Our Marine Sanctuaries," which evaluates methods for safeguarding marine sanctuaries offshore California from vessel oil spills. The USCG, NOAA, and State of California are all considering the study and its 10 recommendations for reducing the risk of vessel accidents. The Center's recommendations include the need for moving tanker traffic farther offshore, changing the San Francisco Bay TSS, more emergency response vessels for towing and firefighting, and improving vessel traffic monitoring.
Information Services for Vessel Traffic
The importance of information services for reducing the risk of vessel collisions and groundings cannot be underestimated. California has one VTS, which is located in San Francisco Bay and has been run by the USCG for over 20 years. Recent improvements to that system include increasing the capability to monitor the Carquinez Strait and the planned addition of new monitoring equipment on the Golden Gate Bridge to increase coverage. These improvements were made in part because of the recent recommendations of the San Francisco Bay Harbor Safety Committee.
California has one VTIS which serves Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors under a unique partnership. The Harbor Safety Committee for the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach helped establish the VTIS with the assistance of the Marine Exchange of Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor, the USCG, the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, and the OSPR. The VTIS facility is operated by the Marine Exchange of Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor in cooperation with the USCG. Although financial assistance has been provided through a low interest loan from the OSPR and a grant from the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, the long-term operation of the system will be financed by fees paid by shippers using the service.
Tug Escort and Assist Vessels
Senate Bill 2040 requires harbor safety committees to prepare harbor safety plans and make recommendations regarding tug escorts and other navigation safety issues. The San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Safety Committees have both made recommendations to the OSPR, which has adopted regulations to implement those recommendations. Both harbor safety committees are pursuing additional measures to provide the most efficient and effective tug assistance in their harbors. For example, the San Francisco Bay Harbor Safety Committee pursued the adoption of interim regulations to initiate a tug escort system and is currently evaluating a wide range of technical issues necessary to recommend the adoption of permanent regulations by 1996. Committees for the Ports of Hueneme, Humboldt, and San Diego are working on the completion and implementation of similar regulations.
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Finding
Vessel traffic safety off the California coast remains a major policy concern for California. While significant progress has been made in improving vessel traffic safety both offshore California and in
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its ports, the State must continue to identify and evaluate appropriate government and private sector solutions or methods for reducing vessel traffic hazards. For instance, the harbor safety committees established pursuant to the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of 1990 have made recommendations regarding vessel traffic safety and have developed consensus-based measures to reduce the risk of vessel accidents within or on approach to major ports in California. The Harbor Safety Committees have established partnerships, resulting in new vessel traffic information systems, improvement to existing information systems, and setting standards for the use of tug escort vessels to reduce the risk of vessel groundings or collisions.
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