Click on one of the VTS areas on the map to find out more information about it, find a link to its homepage and a link to its user manual.

VTS New York

The control center is located at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, NY. Coast Guard Activities, NY in 1995, assumed operational control of the VTS. This VTS has the responsibility of coordinating vessel traffic movements in the busy ports of New York and New Jersey. The VTS New York area includes the entrance to the harbor via Ambrose and Sandy Hook Channels, through the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to the Throgs Neck Bridge in the East River, to the Holland Tunnel in the Hudson River, the Kill Van Kull including Newark Bay and all of Arthur Kill, and Raritan Bay.

Homepage: VTS New York

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VTS San Francisco

The Vessel Traffic Center is located at Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay. VTS San Francisco is responsible for the safety of vessel movements along approximately 133 miles of waterway from offshore to the ports of Stockton and Sacramento. On 3 May 1995, federal regulations went into effect establishing regulated navigation areas within the San Francisco Bay Region. These regulations, developed with input from the Harbor Safety Committee of the San Francisco Bay Region, were designed to improve navigation safety by organizing traffic flow patterns; reducing meeting, crossing, and overtaking situations in constricted channels; and by limiting vessels' speeds. VTS San Francisco also operates an Offshore Vessel Movement Reporting System (OVMRS). The OVMRS is completely voluntary and operates using a broadcast system with information provided by participants.

Homepage: VTS San Francisco

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VTIS Los Angeles / Long Beach

Vessel Traffic Information Service (VTIS) Los Angeles-Long Beach (LA/LB) is jointly operated by the Coast Guard and Marine Exchange of LA/LB from the Vessel Traffic Center located in San Pedro. The VTS assists in the safe navigation of vessels approaching the ports of LA/LB in an area extending 25 miles out to sea from Point Fermin (LAT 33 42.3'N LONG 118 17.6'W). The LA/LB VTIS developed a unique partnership with the state of California, the Coast Guard, the Ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach, the Marine Exchange, and the local maritime community. With start up funds provided by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the VTIS operations are supported by fees assessed against commercial vessels operating in the LA/LB area. VTIS LA/LB came on line in March 1994.

Homepage: VTIS Los Angeles

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VTS Puget Sound

The Vessel Traffic Center is located at Pier 36 in Seattle and monitors the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Rosario Strait, Admiralty Inlet, and Puget Sound south as far as Olympia. Since 1979, the U.S. Coast Guard has worked cooperatively with the Canadian Coast Guard in managing vessel traffic in adjacent waters. Through the Cooperative Vessel Traffic Service (CVTS), two Canadian Vessel Traffic Centers work hand in hand with Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Service. Tofino Vessel Traffic Service manages the area west of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. North of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, through Haro Strait, to Vancouver, B.C. is managed by Vancouver Vessel Traffic Service. The three Vessel Traffic Centers communicate via a computer link and dedicated telephone lines to advise each other of vessels passing between their respective zones.

Homepage: VTS Puget Sound

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VTS Houston-Galveston.

The Vessel Traffic Center is located in the upper reaches of the Houston Ship Channel within the city of Houston. The VTS operating area is the Houston Ship Channel from the sea buoy to the Turning Basin (a distance of 53 miles) and the side channels to Galveston, Texas City, Bayport, and the Intracoastal Waterway. The area contains approximately 70 miles of restricted waterways. The greater part of the Houston Ship Channel is 400 feet wide with depths of 36-40 feet. Several bends in the channel are in excess of 90 degrees.

Homepage: VTS Houston / Galveston

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VTS Prince William Sound

The Vessel Traffic Center is located in Valdez. The Coast Guard has installed a dependent surveillance system to improve its ability to track tankers transiting Prince William Sound and requires these vessels to carry position and identification reporting equipment. The ability to supplement radar with dependent surveillance bridges the gap in areas where conditions dictate some form of surveillance and where radar coverage is impractical. Once the dependent surveillance information is returned to the vessel traffic center, it is integrated with radar data and presented to the watchstander on an electronic chart display. VTS Prince William Sound is required by The Trans- Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (Public Law 93-153), pursuant to authority contained in Title 1 of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972 (86 Stat. 424, Public Law 92-340). The southern terminus of the pipeline is on the south shoreline of the Port of Valdez, at the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company tanker terminal. Port Valdez is at the north end of Prince William Sound, and Cape Hinchinbrook is at the south entrance. Geographically, the area is comprised of deep open waterways surrounded by mountainous terrain.

Homepage: VTS Prince William Sound

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VTS St. Mary’s River

The Vessel Traffic Center is located at Coast Guard Group Sault Ste. Marie, MI. In October 1994 it became a mandatory system operating year round with an area of responsibility along the entire length of the St. Mary's River (Approx. 80 miles). Within the VTS area the water level drops approx. 21 feet from the level of Lake Superior to the level of the lower lakes. Thus, the Soo Locks were constructed and are presently maintained by the Corps of Engineers. In most of the areas of the river there is adequate room for vessels to maneuver or anchor during periods of low visibility, or when other problems hinder safe navigation. However, there are three areas extremely hazardous to transit or anchor in low visibility: West Neebish Channel (down-bound traffic only), Middle Neebish Channel (Up-bound traffic only), and Little Rapids Cut (two-way traffic). During periods of low visibility it is customary to close the entire river.

Homepage: VTS St. Mary's River

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VTS Berwick Bay

The Vessel Traffic Center is located at Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Morgan City, LA. VTS Berwick Bay manages vessel traffic on one of the most hazardous waterways in the United States due to strong currents and a series of bridges that must be negotiated by inland tows traveling between Houston, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Its area of responsibility encompasses the junction of the Atchafalaya River (an outflow of the Mississippi River), the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the Port Allen-Morgan City Alternate Route and several tributary bayous. Narrow bridge openings and a swift river current require the VTS to maintain one-way traffic flow through the bridges. During seasonal high water periods, the VTS enforces towing regulations that require inland tows transiting the bridges to have a minimum amount of horsepower based on the length of tow. VTS Berwick Bay is unique among Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Services because it maintains direct control of vessel traffic.

Homepage: VTS Berwick Bay

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VTS Louisville

The Vessel Traffic Center is located at Coast Guard Group Ohio Valley in Louisville, KY. VTS Louisville is a vessel movement reporting system designed to enable vessel operators to better cope with problems encountered during high water on the Ohio River between miles 592.0 and 606.0. The VTS has four cameras surveying the waterway. It monitors traffic via VHF Channel 13 communications only. The VTS is activated when the upper river gauge at the McAlpine Lock and Dam is approximately 13.0 feet and rising. It remains in 24-hour operation until the upper river gauge falls below 13.0 feet. River conditions vary widely, especially during springtime. A series of thunderstorms can, at times, necessitate activation of the VTS in a matter of hours.

Homepage: N/a
User Manual: N/a

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