PART 166—SHIPPING SAFETY FAIRWAYS

Chapter I—Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security › Subchapter P—Ports and Waterways Safety

Subpart A—General

§ 166.100 Purpose.

The purpose of these regulations is to establish and designate shipping safety fairways and fairway anchorages to provide unobstructed approaches for vessels using U.S. ports.

§ 166.103 Geographic coordinates.

Geographic coordinates expressed in terms of latitude or longitude, or both, are not intended for plotting on maps or charts whose referenced horizontal datum is the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83), unless such geographic coordinates are expressly labeled NAD 83. Geographic coordinates without the NAD 83 reference may be plotted on maps or charts referenced to NAD 83 only after application of the appropriate corrections that are published on the particular map or chart being used.

§ 166.105 Definitions.

(a) Shipping safety fairway or fairway means a lane or corridor in which no artificial island or fixed structure, whether temporary or permanent, will be permitted. Temporary underwater obstacles may be permitted under certain conditions described for specific areas in subpart B. Aids to navigation approved by the U.S. Coast Guard may be established in a fairway.

(b) Fairway anchorage means an anchorage area contiguous to and associated with a fairway, in which fixed structures may be permitted within certain spacing limitations, as described for specific areas in subpart B.

§ 166.110 Modification of areas.

Fairways and fairway anchorages are subject to modification in accordance with 46 U.S.C. 70003.

Subpart B—Designations of Fairways and Fairway Anchorages

§ 166.200 Shipping safety fairways and anchorage areas, Gulf of America.

(a) Purpose. Fairways and anchorage areas as described in this section are established to control the erection of structures therein to provide safe approaches through oil fields in the Gulf of America to entrances to the major ports along the Gulf Coast.

(b) Special Conditions for Fairways in the Gulf of America. Temporary anchors and attendant cables or chains attached to floating or semisubmersible drilling rigs outside a fairway may be placed within a fairway described in this section for the Gulf of America, provided the following conditions are met:

(1) Anchors installed within fairways to stabilize semisubmersible drilling rigs shall be allowed to remain 120 days. This period may be extended by the Army Corps of Engineers, as provided by § 209.135(b).

(2) Drilling rigs must be outside of any fairway boundary to whatever distance is necessary to ensure that the minimum depth of water over an anchor line within a fairway is 125 feet.

(3) No anchor buoys or floats or related rigging will be allowed on the surface of the water or to a depth of at least 125 feet from the surface, within a fairway.

(4) Aids to Navigation or danger markings must be installed as required by 33 CFR Subchapter C.

(c) Special Conditions for Fairway Anchorages in the Gulf of America. Structures may be placed within an area designated as a fairway anchorage, but the number of structures will be limited by spacing as follows:

(1) The center of a structure to be erected shall not be less than two (2) nautical miles from the center of any existing structure.

(2) In a drilling or production complex, associated structures connected by walkways shall be considered one structure for purposes of spacing, and shall be as close together as practicable having due consideration for the safety factors involved.

(3) A vessel fixed in place by moorings and used in conjunction with the associated structures of a drilling or production complex, shall be considered an attendant vessel and the extent of the complex shall include the vessel and its moorings.

(4) When a drilling or production complex extends more than five hundred (500) yards from the center, a new structure shall not be erected closer than two (2) nautical miles from the outer limit of the complex.

(5) An underwater completion installation in an anchorage area shall be considered a structure and shall be marked with a lighted buoy approved by the United States Coast Guard under § 66.01.

(d) Designated Areas—(1) Brazos Santiago Pass Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(2) Brazos Santiago Pass Anchorage Areas. The areas enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(3) Port Mansfield Safety Fairway. The area between a rhumb line joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(4) Aransas Pass Safety Fairway. The area between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

separated by areas enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(5) Aransas Pass Anchorage Areas. The areas enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(6) Matagorda Entrance Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

with rhumb lines joining points at:

(7) Matagorda Entrance Anchorage Areas. The areas enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(8) Freeport Harbor Safety Fairway. The area between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(9) Freeport Harbor Anchorage Areas. The areas enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(10) Galveston Entrance Safety Fairways. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(11) Galveston Entrance Anchorage Areas. The areas enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(12) Sabine Pass Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(13) Sabine Pass Anchorage Areas—(i) Sabine Pass Inshore Anchorage Area. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) Sabine Bank Offshore (North) Anchorage Area. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(iii) Sabine Bank Offshore (South) Anchorage Area. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(iv) Sabine Bank Offshore (East) Anchorage Area. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(14) Coastwise Safety Fairways—(i) Brazos Santiago Pass to Aransas Pass. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) Aransas Pass to Calcasieu Pass. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

with rhumb lines joining points at:

(15) Calcasieu Pass Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(16) Calcasieu Pass Anchorage Areas—(i) Calcasieu Pass North Anchorage Area. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) Calcasieu Pass South Anchorage Area. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(17) Lower Mud Lake Safety Fairway. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(18) Freshwater Bayou Safety Fairway. The area between lines joining points at:

and a line joining points at:

(19) Southwest Pass Safety Fairway. The area between lines joining points at:

and lines joining points at:

(20) Atchafalaya Pass Safety Fairway. The area between a line joining points at:

and a line joining points at:

(21) Bayou Grand Caillou Safety Fairway. The area between a line joining points at:

and a line joining points at:

(22) Cat Island Pass Safety Fairway. The area between lines joining points at:

and lines joining points at:

(23) Belle Pass Safety Fairway. The area between a line joining points at:

and a line joining points at:

(24) Barataria Pass Safety Fairway. The area between a line joining points at:

and a line joining points at:

(25) Grand Bayou Pass Safety Fairway. The areas between a line joining points at:

and a line joining points at:

(26) Empire to the Gulf Safety Fairway. The area between a line joining points at:

and a line joining points at:

(27) Gulf Safety Fairway. Aransas Pass Safety Fairway to Southwest Pass Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(28) Southwest Pass (Mississippi River) Safety Fairway—(i) Southwest Pass (Mississippi River) to Gulf Safety Fairway. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) Southwest Pass (Mississippi River) to Sea Safety Fairway. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(iii) Southwest Pass (Mississippi River) to South Pass (Mississippi River) Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb line joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(29) Southwest Pass (Mississippi River) Anchorage. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(30) South Pass (Mississippi River) Safety Fairway—(i) South Pass to Sea Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) South Pass (Mississippi River) to Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Channel Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(31) South Pass (Mississippi River) Anchorage. The areas within rhumb lines joining points at:

(32) Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Safety Fairway. (i) The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Channel to Mobile Ship Channel Safety Fairway. The areas within rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(33) Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Anchorage. (i) The areas within rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) The areas within rhumb lines joining points at:

(34) Gulfport Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(35) Biloxi Safety Fairway. The area between lines joining points at:

and lines joining points at:

(36) Ship Island Pass to Horn Island Pass Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb line joining points at:

and rhumb line joining points at:

(37) Pascagoula Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb line joining points at:

and rhumb line joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(38) Horn Island Pass to Mobile Ship Channel Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb line joining points at:

and rhumb line joining points at:

(39) Mobile Safety Fairway—(i) Mobile Ship Channel Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) Mobile Ship Channel to Sea Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb line joining points at:

(iii) Mobile to Pensacola Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb line joining points at:

and rhumb line joining points at:

(40) Mobile Anchorage. The areas within rhumb lines joining points at:

(41) Pensacola Safety Fairway. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(42) Pensacola Anchorage. (i) The area within rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) The area within rhumb lines joining points at:

(43) Pensacola to Panama City Safety Fairway. The area between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(44) Panama City Safety Fairways. The areas between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(45) Panama City Anchorage. The area within rhumb lines joining points at:

(46) Port St. Joe Fairway to Panama City Fairway. The area between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(47) Port St. Joe Anchorage. The area within rhumb lines joining points at:

(48) Tampa Safety Fairways. The area between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(49) Tampa Anchorages—(i) Eastern Tampa Fairway Anchorage. The area enclosed by rhumb lines [North American Datum of 1927 (NAD-27)] joining points at:

(ii) Western Tampa Fairway Anchorage. The area enclosed by rhumb lines [North American Datum of 1927 (NAD-27)] joining points at:

(50) Charlotte Safety Fairways. The area between rhumb lines joining points at:

and rhumb lines joining points at:

(51) Charlotte Anchorage. The area within rhumb lines joining points at:

(52) Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) Shipping Safety Fairway to Safety Zone—(i) North of Gulf Safety Fairway. The two mile wide area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) South of Gulf Safety Fairway. The two-mile-wide area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(53) Heald Bank Cutoff Safety Fairway. The area enclosed by rhumb lines [North American Datum of 1927 (NAD-27)], joining points at:

§ 166.300 Areas along the coast of California.

(a) Purpose. Fairways as described in this section are established to control the erection of structures therein to provide safe vessel routes along the coast of California.

(b) Designated Areas—(1) Port Hueneme Safety Fairway. An area one nautical mile in width centered on the alinement of Port Hueneme Entrance Channel and extending seaward from the 30-foot-depth curve for a distance of 1.5 nautical miles, thence turning southerly and widening to 1.5 nautical miles at the 3-mile limit, all between lines joining the following points:

thence generally along the 30-foot-depth curve to the seaward end of the west entrance jetty; seaward end of the east entrance jetty, thence generally along the 30-foot-depth curve to:

(2) [Reserved]

§ 166.400 Areas along the coast of Alaska.

(a) Purpose. Fairways, as described in this section, are established to control the erection of structures therein to provide safe vessel routes along the coast of Alaska.

(b) Designated Areas—(1) Prince William Sound Safety Fairway—(i) Hinchinbrook Entrance Safety Fairway. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) Gulf to Hinchinbrook Safety Fairway (recommended for inbound vessel traffic). The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(iii) Hinchinbrook to Gulf Safety Fairway (recommended for outbound vessel traffic). The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(2) Unimak Pass Safety Fairway—(i) East/West Safety Fairway. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

(ii) North/South Safety Fairway. The area enclosed by rhumb lines joining points at:

§ 166.500 Areas along the Atlantic Coast.

(a) Purpose. Fairways, as described in this section are established to control the erection of structures therein to provide safe vessel routes along the Atlantic Coast.

(b) Designated Areas—(1) Off New York Shipping Safety Fairway. (i) Ambrose to Nantucket Safety Fairway. The area enclosed by rhumb lines, [North American Datum of 1927 (NAD-27)] joining points at:

(ii) Nantucket to Ambrose Safety Fairway. The area enclosed by rhumb lines, NAD-27, joining point at: