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Office of Public Affairs | |
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| Press Release |
Date: September 11, 2006 |
COAST GUARD, LOCAL AUTHORITIES AGAIN IN FULL FORCE FOR OPERATION MAKE WAY | |
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PORTLAND, Ore. - Coast Guard Sector Portland, state and local officials, and various industry representatives joined forces Friday for Operation Make Way. The enforcement operation, which focused on the Columbia River from Warrior Rock to the Longview Bridge, consisted of personnel and assets from Sector Portland, Coast Guard Station Portland, Coast Guard Auxiliary, Washington Fish and Wildlife, and the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. During this operation, a large deep draft cargo ship was followed as it transited down river from Portland toward the coast. Personnel from Sector Portland were staged on the bridge of the ship to document violations and act as spotters, while Coast Guard and local/state officials in smaller boats moved in to issue citations to boaters failing to give way. A Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel was located approximately one mile ahead of the deep draft ship to alert boaters in the channel of their responsibility to make way. Twenty eight violations were issued to recreational boaters during this operation. Boaters who were in violation of Rule 9 are subject to fines ranging from several hundred dollars to $5000 if found guilty. Rule 9 in the Navigational Rules of the Road requires recreational boaters to give way to vessels restricted in their ability to maneuver. Operation Make Way is a joint recreational boater education and enforcement campaign designed to help boaters understand the need to give way and stay clear of commercial deep draft vessels restricted in their ability to maneuver on the Columbia and Willamette rivers. Commercial vessels, such as tug and tows, deep draft vessels and passenger cruise vessels, transiting the river can only safely navigate within a narrow channel. To maintain steerage on the rivers' powerful currents they must travel at a moderate rate of speed. At these speeds it often can take more than a mile for these heavy vessels to stop making way. "During the summer months in particular, we see many incidents in which recreational boaters and fishermen place themselves in unsafe situations by remaining in the channel and in the path of larger ships. The success of Friday's operation highlights the strong partnerships we have with state and local officials during Operation Make Way, but there is still work to be done. The goal is to have zero violations through our campaign of education," said Lt. j.g. Mike Hjerstedt, Waterways Management Officer at Sector Portland. For more information on Operation Make Way and the dangers recreational boaters face from commercial vessels, please visit the campaign's web site, www.volunteerlifesavers.org/makeway. | |
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