Security zones, safety zones and regulated navigation areas

Security & safety zones · Power & sail

The Coast Guard can limit access to waters with safety zones (hazards and events such as fireworks), security zones (to protect vessels, ports and waterfront facilities) and regulated navigation areas (special traffic rules). You may not enter a safety or security zone without permission (33 CFR 165.20 to 165.33).

Safety zones

• A safety zone is water, shore or both where access is limited to authorized people and vessels for safety or environmental reasons. It can be a fixed area or a zone around a moving vessel (33 CFR 165.20).
• Unless the specific rule says otherwise, you may not enter, bring a vessel or object into, or stay in a safety zone without authorization from the Captain of the Port or District Commander, and you must obey their lawful orders (33 CFR 165.23).
• Many are tied to events. For example, Puget Sound has a standing list of annual fireworks displays, each with a safety zone around the launch site (33 CFR 165.1332). Others are temporary rules for one event or hazard.

Security zones

• A security zone is land, water or both set by the Captain of the Port or District Commander to protect vessels, harbors, ports and waterfront facilities from sabotage, accidents and similar threats (33 CFR 165.30).
• You may not enter or stay in a security zone without the Captain of the Port's permission. Inside, you must obey every order, and the Captain of the Port may take control of or remove a vessel (33 CFR 165.33).
• No one may board a vessel in a security zone, or put anything aboard it or on a waterfront facility there, without the Captain of the Port's permission (33 CFR 165.33(e), (f)).
• Some zones travel with ships. In Puget Sound, for example, a combined security and safety zone surrounds cruise ships and large ferries and is enforced when the Captain of the Port gives notice (33 CFR 165.1317).

Regulated navigation areas

• A regulated navigation area (RNA) is a defined area with its own rules for vessels (33 CFR 165.10).
• District Commanders use RNAs in hazardous areas to set times of entry and movement, limits on vessel size, speed and draft, and other operating conditions (33 CFR 165.11).
• The person in charge must follow the specific RNA rules, which are listed by location in subpart F of 33 CFR part 165 (33 CFR 165.13).

Finding the zones in force today

• The Coast Guard announces zones through the Federal Register, marine radio broadcasts, Local Notices to Mariners, local news, leaflets and on-scene notice. Notices normally give boundaries, reason, expected duration and how to ask for entry (33 CFR 165.7).
• Local Notices to Mariners are published weekly by each Coast Guard district on the NavCen website. If you cruise across district lines, check each district (NavCen LNM FAQ).
• Broadcast Notices to Mariners are announced on VHF channel 16 and read on channel 22A. NavCen also offers free email subscriptions by district or sector (NavCen).
• Boating guides advise checking the chart and the latest Local Notice before leaving and keeping channel 16 on while underway, to hear security calls about ships getting underway (Waterway Guide; BoatUS Foundation).

Reporting suspicious activity (America’s Waterway Watch)

• Suspicious activity: the National Response Center, 1-877-24WATCH, which dials as 1-877-249-2824 (Coast Guard America's Waterway Watch; Coast Guard Auxiliary).
• Immediate danger to life or property: call 911, or the Coast Guard on VHF-FM channel 16 (Coast Guard Auxiliary; Coast Guard America's Waterway Watch).
• Report behaviour, not people: unusual operation of a boat (or a boat and vehicle together), someone who appears to be conducting surveillance, or physical breaches of security (Coast Guard Auxiliary).
• Never approach or challenge the people involved. From a safe distance, note their appearance and clothing, any vehicle licence plate, and the type of boat or vehicle, and take a photo if it is safe (Coast Guard Auxiliary; BoatUS Foundation).

The rules: 33 CFR 165.5 · 33 CFR 165.7 · 33 CFR 165.10 · 33 CFR 165.11 · 33 CFR 165.13 · 33 CFR 165.20 · 33 CFR 165.23 · 33 CFR 165.30 · 33 CFR 165.33 · 33 CFR 165.1317 · 33 CFR 165.1332 · 46 U.S.C. 70036

A plain-language summary of federal rules for recreational boats, checked against the rules’ own text and a second source, and written in our own words. It isn’t legal advice. States add rules of their own, and rules change — the links above go to the current official text.