SEATTLE – The Coast Guard and local law enforcement from Washington and Oregon joined forces over Labor Day Weekend as part of Operation Make Way and issued more than 10 citations to recreational boaters who blocked the path of commercial vessels on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.

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.

To enforce Rule 9 regulations vessels from Coast Guard Station Portland, Washington’s Columbia and Cowlitz Counties and Oregon’s Multnomah County patrolled throughout the weekend.

Recreational boaters fishing on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers took to the water in record numbers this year.  However they were also repeatedly placing themselves in a position to be collided with by commercial vessels.  

Commercial vessels, mainly tug and tows or deep draft 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.  The Coast Guard is receiving numerous calls from tug captains and river pilots requesting assistance in removing recreational fisherman from the proximity of these channels. 

Collisions between commercial and recreational vessels have been deadly in the past.  To help prevent similar accidents, the Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary and local law enforcement agencies will continue public education through Operation Make Way. 

In support of Operation Make Way, Coast Guard boarding officers will be issuing notice of violation to those who do not respond to sound and visual signals from an approaching ship.  In support of this effort, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary will be educating boaters about navigational rules at local marinas and boat launches.   

Vessel operators who receive a citation could face a maximum fine of $5,000 from the Coast Guard or a fine of several hundred dollars from local law enforcement agencies.  More importantly, boaters could become involved in a collision.  Repeat offenders have in the past had their fishing licenses revoked in addition to their fine. 

For more information on Operation Make Way and the dangers recreational boaters face from commercial vessels, contact Ensign Brett Detzer at Marine Safety Office Portland at (503) 240-2466 or the 13th Coast Guard District public affairs office at (206) 220-7237.     

A photo of a recreational boat in the path of a commercial vessel can be found at the following link. https://www.piersystem.com/clients/uscg-13/27350.JPG     

Cutline:  A recreational vessel is anchored in the commercial shipping channel on the Columbia River in 2002.  Photo by Diane Epstein, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary 7-12.