PVA Tells Obama Ocean Policy Task Force to "Preserve Navigation Routes"

Traditional navigational routes for ferries and other passenger vessels must be recognized and protected. That was the Passenger Vessel Association’s message delivered this summer to President Obama’s Interagency Task Force on Ocean Policy.

PVA told the Interagency Task Force, “Ferry routes and other traditional navigational lanes are located where they are for a reason. These are the most economical and safest routes by which a vessel can reach its destination. They cannot be arbitrarily moved for someone else’s convenience or whim. As governments begin to implement “marine spatial planning” (or ocean zoning), it is essential to be aware of the needs of the maritime industry, especially ferry operators, to preserve and protect their routes and traditional navigational lanes. The passenger vessel industry and its ferry operators must not be considered an afterthought, inconvenience, or obstacle when someone proposes a new and conflicting use for waters traditionally used for navigation.”

In June, President Obama ordered an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force consisting of representatives of about two dozen federal departments to provide him with recommendations for a national policy that ensures protection, maintenance, and restoration of America’s oceans, coasts, and the Great Lakes. Among the charges to the Task Force is to make suggestions about possible “coastal and marine spatial planning” (that is, zoning of uses in the ocean) in six months.

The Interagency Task Force is to build on two voluminous ocean policy reports prepared several years ago; one by a governmental commission; one by a non-governmental entity. It is unclear what impact (if any) the Interagency Task Force’s recommendations will have, but PVA viewed its work as an opportunity to express concerns to federal policymakers.

"The oceans, our coasts, and the Great Lakes provide jobs, food, energy resources, ecological services, recreation, and tourism opportunities, and play critical roles in our Nation’s transportation, economy, and trade, as well as the global mobility of our Armed Forces and the maintenance of international peace and security," President Obama wrote in his memorandum establishing the Interagency Task Force. "We have a stewardship responsibility to maintain healthy, resilient, and sustainable oceans, coasts and Great Lakes resources for the benefit of this and future generations."

In July, the Council on Environmental Quality convened informal meetings of various ocean user groups during which they could elaborate on their recommendations to the Interagency Task Force. Jen Wilk and Ed Welch of the PVA staff represented the organization at two separate meetings. The web page of the Interagency Task Force can be viewed at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/oceans/.

PVA’s full submission to the Interagency Task Force follows:

The Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) is the national trade association for owners and operators of U.S.-flagged passenger vessels of all types.

PVA currently has nearly 600 vessel and associate members. Our members own and operate passenger and vehicular ferries, dinner cruise vessels, sightseeing and excursion vessels, private charter vessels, whalewatching and eco-tour operators, windjammers, gaming vessels, amphibious vessels, water taxis, and overnight cruise ships.

The diverse membership of PVA includes small family businesses with a single boat, companies with several large vessels in different locations, and governmental agencies operating ferries.

The passenger vessel is a vital and thriving segment of the U.S. maritime industry. It has a longstanding presence on our nation’s oceans, coastal and Great Lakes waters, rivers, and lakes.

Ferries are an important aspect of the nation’s surface transportation system. They provide essential services in places as diverse as New York Harbor, North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the offshore islands of Maine and Massachusetts, Delaware Bay, San Francisco Bay, Puget Sound, and Lake Michigan.

To obtain a more comprehensive view of the role of ferries in the national Maritime Transportation System, PVA refers the Interagency Task Force to the National Census of Ferry Operators maintained by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation and posted at www.bts.gov.

Ferry routes and other traditional navigational lanes are located where they are for a reason. These are the most economical and safest routes by which a vessel can reach its destination. They can not be arbitrarily moved for someone else’s convenience or whim.

As governments begin to implement “marine spatial planning” (or ocean zoning), it is essential to be aware of the needs of the maritime industry, especially ferry operators, to preserve and protect their routes and traditional navigational lanes. The passenger vessel industry and its ferry operators must not be considered an afterthought, inconvenience, or obstacle when someone proposes a new and conflicting use for waters traditionally used for navigation.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what has happened in Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts with a proposal for a massive offshore wind energy development. Neither the developer nor the federal government properly considered the impact of the project on the safety to the vessels and passengers of the ferries that serve the island of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. The ferry operators and PVA are greatly concerned that navigational safety will be compromised. The attached letter to the Minerals Management Service describes PVA’s concerns and includes the resolution adopted by PVA’s Board of Directors opposing the proposed wind energy installation because of its deleterious effect on the marine safety of the area’s ferries.

As people and industry look to ocean waters for nontraditional uses (wind and tidal energy, artificial islands, large aquaculture installations, expanded sanctuaries or marine protected agencies), the possibility of conflicts with traditional navigational uses increases.

While all federal agencies involved in marine spatial planning must be cognizant of the needs of ferries and other vessel operators, the U.S Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration must be “aggressive” advocates for traditional navigational users when conflicting uses are proposed. The existing Committee on the Marine Transportation System www.cmts.gov in the Department of Transportation can play a helpful coordinating role.

PVA in no way opposes offshore wind energy or other nontraditional ocean uses, but they must be sited in a manner that does not impinge on traditional vessel navigational lanes or compromise the safety of U.S. ferry operations. Those who promote marine spatial planning must ensure that navigational uses are recognized and protected.