National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management

noaa-coast-msp-shipping-fairways-lanesand-zones

Shipping Fairways, Lanes, and Zones for US waters as of June 2013

Various shipping zones delineate activities and regulations for marine vessel traffic. Traffic lanes define specific traffic flow, while traffic separation zones assist opposing streams of marine traffic. Precautionary areas represent areas where ships must navigate with caution, and shipping safety fairways designate where artificial structures are prohibited. Recommended Routes are predetermined routes for shipping adopted for reasons of safety. Along certain zones of the East Coast of the United States, ships are also required to report vessel location within designated endangered species areas, such as the North Atlantic right whale. Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas need special protection because of their vulnerability to damage by international maritime activities. Areas to be Avoided are within defined limits where navigation is particularly hazardous or it is exceptionally important to avoid casualties and should be avoided by all ships or certain classes of ships.

ftp://ftp.coast.noaa.gov/pub/MSP/ShippingFairwaysLanesandZones.zip

The spatial range for this dataset is 20.081127° to 60.982386° latitude, and -179.27615° to -64.916667° longitude. map (center)

Also known as :

• identifier 2f5293b5-03c4-49c4-8cdc-4ccf8c89f0ae (datagov lexicon)
• dataset shipping-fairways-lanes-and-zones-for-us-waters-as-of-june-2013 (datagov lexicon)