I thought it was amazing that the rocks the Cruise ship hit in Italy last week were not marked with a buoy, given the apparently common practice of Cruise ships strafing the coastline on the island. I thought, "that would never happen here" and consulted the NOAA SF Bay Chart.Chart 18650
As I suspected, Harding rock has a buoy and Blossom in defined by one very close. However Shag and Arch rocks have no buoys and are apparently in the Westbound traffic Lane! All these rocks show a MLW depth in the mid 30's. I've always heard that there is a fear that a tanker is going to rip itself open on these rocks, and that thought is often given to blowing them up (I think Blossom was already blown up once to bring it to it's current height). I realize that a Harbor Pilot SHOULD know were these rocks are and be able to avoid them (though remember.... the Pilot of the Cosco Busan forgot where the Bay Bridge was!). However, if I'm reading the chart correctly, with much less than 1/2 a Nautical Mile between the rocks, they are threading the needle Westbound between Shag and Arch, especially given the strong currents in that area. Buoys with radar reflectors would probably be a good Idea! Hope I'm missing something! Thoughts?
As I suspected, Harding rock has a buoy and Blossom in defined by one very close. However Shag and Arch rocks have no buoys and are apparently in the Westbound traffic Lane! All these rocks show a MLW depth in the mid 30's. I've always heard that there is a fear that a tanker is going to rip itself open on these rocks, and that thought is often given to blowing them up (I think Blossom was already blown up once to bring it to it's current height). I realize that a Harbor Pilot SHOULD know were these rocks are and be able to avoid them (though remember.... the Pilot of the Cosco Busan forgot where the Bay Bridge was!). However, if I'm reading the chart correctly, with much less than 1/2 a Nautical Mile between the rocks, they are threading the needle Westbound between Shag and Arch, especially given the strong currents in that area. Buoys with radar reflectors would probably be a good Idea! Hope I'm missing something! Thoughts?