Vessel Incidents

Sanctuary staff respond to an average of 11 vessel discharges, groundings, and sinkings each year. Vessel groundings can crush marine habitat and organisms, release hazardous chemicals, and discharge nets, hooks, and other hazards to marine life. Sanctuary staff work with the U.S. Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Office of Spill Prevention and Response, California State Parks, local municipalities, and other agencies to ensure vessel pollution incidents are mitigated and the vessels are completely removed from the sanctuary, whether they are submerged or grounded on the shoreline.

Vessel Sinkings and Groundings

How is the Sanctuary Involved?

Sanctuary staff assess natural resource threats and damage caused by vessel groundings and sinkings, including lost shipping containers, and work in concert with government and non-government partners to determine what response actions are appropriate. If not thoughtfully planned and managed, response and cleanup efforts can exacerbate the initial environmental damage caused by a vessel casualty. Therefore, the sanctuary coordinates with other natural resource agencies to ensure that response activities are implemented in an environmentally sound manner, and may even coordinate salvage operations to remove imminent threats to the marine environment. Sanctuary staff also assess environmental damage and promote actions to restore impacted natural resources, where appropriate.

Who is Responsible?

If a vessel runs aground or sinks in the sanctuary, the vessel owner is responsible by law for removing the vessel, its fuel, and its contents without causing additional harm to sanctuary resources. For instances where a vessel owner fails to do so, government authorities may take action to remove the threat from the marine environment. In such cases, government agencies typically initiate legal action to recover salvage and response costs from the responsible party. Government agencies may also issue fines and/or file suit against responsible parties for natural resource damages.

For example, in 2004 the M/V Med Taipei lost 15 cargo containers within sanctuary waters that resulted in direct impact to the sanctuary seafloor. Owners of Med Taipei were required to pay $3.25 million dollars for a compensatory restoration fund which funds projects such as studying and retrieving lost fishing gear, restoring and mitigating seafloor impacts from lost shipping containers, and a grounded and sunken vessel removal program. Vessel owners are encouraged to remove grounded and sunken vessels from the sanctuary as promptly and effectively as possible to avoid added environmental injury and increased personal liability.

The cost of vessel salvage and natural resource restoration can rise significantly if a wrecked vessel is not promptly removed. The vessel may break up and spread debris and injuries across a larger area, impacting a greater number and variety of wildlife. Hazards from the vessel may spread and impact protected wildlife or damage sensitive habitat. Wrecks also pose threats to people, raising liability for the vessel owner should someone become injured due to the presence of the vessel, hazardous wreckage, or release of toxic substances.

Tips for Vessel Owners Operating Within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary:

• Obtain sufficient hull, wreck removal, salvage, and pollution insurance for prompt effective cleanup that avoids or minimizes collateral damage to the marine environment.
• Research area marine salvage companies to determine their capabilities and experience. Salvage capability, pricing, and contracting practices can vary widely. Do your homework and identify professional primary and alternate salvors in advance.
• Know your liabilities under state and federal law in the event of a vessel casualty. There are mandatory reporting requirements and time limits, in addition to owner response requirements.
• Compile comprehensive profile data about your boat (e.g., registration/documentation number, insurance info, contact info, max fuel capacity, weight, schematics, etc.) into a single document for ready access, should an emergency occur.
• Assign someone to act as your agent in the event you are involved in a vessel casualty and cannot initiate response action.
• If your vessel becomes a casualty, cooperate fully with response personnel to provide information and resources to remove the vessel quickly and in a manner that avoids or minimizes collateral damage to the marine environment.
• If you sell your boat, ensure that Department of Motor Vehicles or the U.S. Coast Guard has recorded the transfer of title and that official records display the name of the new owner(s).

Vessel Traffic

There are on average 2,600 transits within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary each year by large shipping vessels (greater than 300 gross tons), including container ships, bulk freighters, and tankers. Vessel traffic within the sanctuary was a major issue of concern raised during the designation process due to potential impacts from a large spill should one of these vessels ground along the coastline. The sanctuary also hosts an abundance of whales and NOAA Fisheries has identified vessel strikes as one of the threats that could impede the recovery of endangered whales.

How is the Sanctuary Involved?

In 1997, the U.S. Coast Guard and NOAA established a workgroup of key stakeholders in the issue of vessel traffic, including representatives from federal, state, and local governments; environmental groups; and industry to review existing practices and risks, and recommend a package of strategies which would maximize protection of sanctuary resources while allowing for the continuation of safe, efficient and environmentally sound transportation. The group's recommendations included alteration of the San Francisco Traffic Separation Scheme to move vessels away from the sensitive San Mateo shoreline. Most importantly, container ships, bulk freighters, and vessels carrying hazardous materials were moved offshore to reduce the risk of groundings, and organized into north-south lanes to reduce the risk of collision. These recommendations were ultimately approved by the International Maritime Organization and implementation began in 2000.

International Maritime Organization Recommended Vessel Tracks

Effective and safe vessel traffic management within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is ensured by vessels following these International Maritime Organization recommended tracks.

In 2012, sanctuary staff provided input to the International Maritime Organization to reduce ship strikes of whales on approaches to the San Francisco Bay ports and improve navigational safety. The San Francisco Traffic Separation Scheme lanes were extended in 2013 due to the input from NOAA.

In 2013, sanctuary staff first collaborated with NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Naval Postgraduate School staff on a vessel traffic analysis report to help determine if any additional management implementations are necessary to protect the sanctuary's resources. Southwest Fisheries Science Center staff developed density maps for tankers and cargo vessels based on automatic identification system (AIS) data from Marine Cadastre and Naval Postgraduate School staff developed a Matlab code to detail daily deviations of the recommended tracks by cargo vessels and tankers for AIS data. Sanctuary staff review AIS data daily to note any deviations, and work with the U.S. Coast Guard to follow up with vessels traveling more than three nautical miles inside the recommended track for vessels 300 gross tons and above. The most recent vessel analysis reports can be found in Field Reports.