Comment on Coast Guard D-1 Proposed Changes to Aids to Navigation by June 13

The USCG District 1 Buoy Discontinuation Candidates (MSI Proposed Notice) map can be found by clicking on the “USCG Proposed Areas and Studies” dropdown in the Portal’s Maritime theme. The proposed buoy discontinuation summary and detailed maps can also be viewed through a smartphone or tablet through the Coast Guard’s Local Notice to Mariners interactive tool on the NAVCEN web page.

Portal users can track the status of the proposal on the Current Agency Actions & Public Comment Opportunities page.

The Coast Guard is modernizing and rightsizing the buoy constellation, whose designs mostly predate Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Electronic Navigation Charts (ENC), and Electronic Charting Systems (ECS), for long-term reliability and serviceability. This effort, which includes buoy discontinuation, will result in the most sustainable navigation risk reduction to support and complement modern mariners, today’s much larger ships, ECS system availability and requirements, and powerful smartphone navigation subscription apps affordably accessible to virtually all waterway users.

The proposed buoy constellation changes are intended to:

• Support the navigational needs of the 21st century prudent mariner, vice those of the mid-20th century (pre-GPS, AIS, e-charts, mobile device apps, improved radar, etc.),
• Deliver effective, economical service – manage vessel transit risk to acceptable levels at acceptable cost,
• Best maintain the most critical risk reducing buoys for the long-term, and
• Provide resilience against AtoN discrepancies, GNSS disruptions/ECS failures.

Interested mariners are strongly encouraged to comment in writing, either personally or through their organization, prior to June 13, 2025. To most effectively consider your feedback and improve the data collection, the Coast Guard requests responses to include the size and type of your vessel, recreational or commercial, how you use the signal to navigate, and the distance at which you start looking for and utilizing it. Please do not call the Coast Guard via telephone or other means; only written responses to this proposal will be accepted. Refer to Project No. 01-25-015. E-mail can be sent to: D01-SMB-DPWPublicComments@uscg.mil.