Coast Guard Throttles Back On Buoy Plan

CHATHAM – Facing what appears to be universal backlash from mariners, the U.S. Coast Guard is postponing a plan to remove a number of navigational buoys in the name of modernization.

 The Coast Guard is advancing a national plan to reduce the number of aids to navigation, which includes the removal of the “C” buoy, a large lighted whistle buoy near the Chatham Harbor entrance; the SH lighted bell buoy marking the entrance to Stage Harbor; Pollock Rip lighted buoy number eight south of Monomoy Point; and bell buoy number 3, known as the Nor’west Buoy, at Chatham Roads.

 In its official notice, the Coast Guard notes that it is “modernizing and rightsizing” its national buoy constellation, which was designed mostly before the advent of GPS, smartphones and electronic charts. The reduction in buoys aims to “deliver effective, economical service [and] manage vessel transit risk to acceptable levels at acceptable cost,” while maintaining the most critical risk-reducing buoys. 

 In June, U.S. Senators from New England states signed a letter urging the Coast Guard to extend the public comment period for the buoy removal plan and to better share the data it is using to justify it.

 “We appreciate the need to modernize, but the Coast Guard and other stakeholders need to maximize navigation safety utilizing all available means — electronic and visual,” the senators wrote. “As you are well aware, mishaps continue to show the need for mariners to competently pilot their vessels, and effective coastal piloting relies on GPS, radar and visual navigational aids, including buoys, beacons, lights, ranges and lighthouses.”

 The lawmakers urged the Coast Guard to extend the public comment period until Sept. 1, to undertake more extensive outreach with a dedicated public website on the initiative, and to enhance the compilation of data on which it is relying.

 In a response issued on Aug. 12, Coast Guard Director of Marine Transportation Systems Michael Emerson acknowledged the senators’ concerns and said the service has received nearly 3,000 comments on the buoy removal proposal. Among those comments were letters of opposition from many local town committees and Barnstable County.

 “I appreciate your concern that the Coast Guard slow down the effort to ensure that the needs of communities and mariners in your states are understood,” Emerson wrote. “Accordingly, the Coast Guard will modify and extend the process.” The service will review comments received and re-advertise the proposal this fall to provide more information, with an eight-week public comment period to follow. After that, there will be another review cycle with any new changes to the plan being reflected in a new advertisement followed by another eight-week public comment period. No specific dates have been announced.

 “The Coast Guard plans to carry out Coastal Buoy Modernization Initiative changes no earlier than calendar year 2026,” he wrote.

 With that move, the Coast Guard “kind of kicked the can down the road,” Chatham Harbormaster Jason Holm said. Until the revised plan is advertised, it’s not clear whether important local buoys will remain on the chopping block. “We'll be able to tell a lot when that comes out in the fall,” he said.

 In Chatham alone, the town's harbormaster, waterways advisory committee and working waterfront advisory committee all wrote letters opposing the plan, and the select board followed suit. There was a similar outpouring of concern from other Cape communities and coastal towns around the region.

 Holm said he believes the strong reaction from the public was due to the extent of the removal and what it could mean for public safety, particularly for smaller boats that rely on buoys and other visual aids to navigation. 

 “Modern electronics are nice, but in a community like ours we find vessels operating with little or no electronics, which is a safety risk,” he said. 

Holm and others have said that, if the Coast Guard should ultimately remove the buoys, it would be prohibitively expensive for the town to take over the job. Deploying and maintaining the buoys requires large buoy tender ships with heavy equipment aboard.

In 2019, the Coast Guard announced plans to decommission the “C” buoy, which it said was prone to being moved off station during coastal storms. Its value as a harbor entrance marker is also diminished by the fact that the channel regularly moves as a result of shifting shoals and the migrating barrier beach. But the select board sent a letter opposing the plan and recruited surrounding towns and the Barnstable County Assembly to send letters of their own, along with some fishing organizations. By February 2020, the Coast Guard had officially abandoned the plan.