Anchorage Regulation; San Juan Bay, San Juan, PR
Key claim: The Coast Guard proposes to redraw Anchorage D in San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico, so it no longer overlaps the San Antonio Channel used by deep-draft commercial ships.
Abstract
(Proposed Rule · Homeland Security Department, Coast Guard) The Coast Guard is proposing to amend the special anchorage regulation in the Bah[iacute]a de San Juan, PR, known as Anchorage D, by revising the anchorage boundaries. The current boundaries of Anchorage D overlap with deep draft commercial vessel traffic routes within the San Antonio Channel, causing a hazard to navigation. The proposed amendment to the special anchorage regulation is necessary to protect personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from hazards associated with vessel traffic transiting the San Antonio Channel. We invite your comments on this proposed rulemaking.
Why this matters
Anchorage regulations under 33 CFR Part 110 are the Coast Guard’s routine tool for reconciling recreational and small-vessel anchoring with deep-draft commercial navigation in busy harbors. Redrawing Anchorage D away from the San Antonio Channel is a localized safety fix in San Juan Bay, one of Puerto Rico’s primary commercial ports, but it is characteristic of the incremental navigable-waters rulemakings the Coast Guard issues to prevent anchored vessels from obstructing charted transit lanes.