NOAA ENC

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

US3TX1DC - GALVESTON BAY TO FREEPORT AND GULF OF AMERICA


INDEX:

NOTE A
AIDS TO NAVIGATION
POLLUTION REPORTS
CAUTION - USE OF RADIO SIGNALS (LIMITATIONS)
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
CAUTION - TEMPORARY CHANGES
WARNING - PRUDENT MARINER
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
AUTHORITIES
CAUTION - QUALITY OF BATHYMETRIC DATA
CAUTION - SUBMARINE PIPELINES AND CABLES
FLOATING AIDS TO NAVIGATION
HURRICANES AND TROPICAL STORMS
MINERAL DEVELOPMENT STRUCTURES
PRECAUTIONARY AREA
RADAR REFLECTORS
VESSEL TRAFFIC SERVICES - HOUSTON
VESSEL TRAFFIC SERVICES - SABINE
WATER LEVELS, CURRENTS, AND TIDES
COMMENTS REQUESTED


NOTES:

NOTE A
Navigation regulations are published in Chapter 2 of each regional U.S. Coast Pilot. Additions or revisions to Chapter 2 are published in the Notice to Mariners. Information concerning the regulations may be obtained from the Coast Guard District Commander. Refer to charted regulation section numbers.


AIDS TO NAVIGATION
Consult U.S. Coast Guard Light List for supplemental information concerning aids to navigation.


POLLUTION REPORTS
Report all spills of oil and hazardous substances to the National Response Center via 1-800-424-8802 (toll free), or to the nearest U.S. Coast Guard facility if telephone communication is impossible (33 CFR 153).


CAUTION - USE OF RADIO SIGNALS (LIMITATIONS)
Limitations on the use of radio signals as aids to marine navigation can be found in the U.S. Coast Guard Light Lists and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Publication 117. Radio direction-finder bearings to commercial broadcasting stations are subject to error and should be used with caution.


SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Consult U.S. Coast Pilot 5 for important supplemental information.


CAUTION - TEMPORARY CHANGES
Temporary changes or defects in aids to navigation are not indicated. See Local Notice to Mariners.


WARNING - PRUDENT MARINER
The prudent mariner will not rely solely on any single aid to navigation, particularly on floating aids. See U.S. Coast Guard Light List and U.S. Coast Pilot for details.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Additional information can be obtained at www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov


AUTHORITIES
Hydrography and topography by the National Ocean Service, Coast Survey, with additional data from the Corps of Engineers, Geological Survey, and U.S. Coast Guard.


CAUTION - QUALITY OF BATHYMETRIC DATA
The areas represented by the object M_QUAL (Quality of data) are approximate due to generalizing for clarity. Caution is advised, particularly for nearshore navigation or voyage planning. M_QUAL represents areas of uniform quality of bathymetric data. The CATZOC (Category of zone of confidence in data) attribute of M_QUAL provides an assessment of the overall zone of confidence.


CAUTION - SUBMARINE PIPELINES AND CABLES
Additional uncharted submarine pipelines and submarine cables may exist within the area of this chart. Not all submarine pipelines and submarine cables are required to be buried, and those that were originally buried may have become exposed. Mariners should use extreme caution when operating vessels in depths of water comparable to their draft in areas where pipelines and cables may exist, and when anchoring, dragging, or trawling. Covered wells may be marked by lighted or unlighted buoys.


FLOATING AIDS TO NAVIGATION
Floating Aids to Navigation inside the sea buoys are not shown on this chart. See larger scale charts for aids marking maintained channels.


HURRICANES AND TROPICAL STORMS
Hurricanes, tropical storms and other major storms may cause considerable damage to marine structures, aids to navigation and moored vessels, resulting in submerged debris in unknown locations. Charted soundings, channel depths and shoreline may not reflect actual conditions following these storms. Fixed aids to navigation may have been damaged or destroyed. Buoys may have been moved from their charted positions, damaged, sunk, extinguished or otherwise made inoperative. Mariners should not rely upon the position or operation of an aid to navigation. Wrecks and submerged obstructions may have been displaced from charted locations. Pipelines may have become uncovered or moved. Mariners are urged to exercise extreme caution and are requested to report aids to navigation discrepancies and hazards to navigation to the nearest United States Coast Guard unit.


MINERAL DEVELOPMENT STRUCTURES
Obstruction lights and sound (fog) signals are required for fixed mineral development structures, subject to approval by the District Commander, U.S. Coast Guard (33 CFR 67).


PRECAUTIONARY AREA
A pilot boarding area is located near the center of the inshore precautionary area. Due to heavy vessel traffic, mariners are advised not to anchor or linger in this precautionary area except to pick up or disembark a pilot.


RADAR REFLECTORS
Radar reflectors have been placed on many floating aids to navigation. Individual radar reflector identification on these aids has been omitted from this chart.


VESSEL TRAFFIC SERVICES - HOUSTON
The U.S. Coast Guard operates a mandatory Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) system in Houston, Galveston, and Texas City waterways. Vessel operating procedures and designated radiotelephone frequencies are published in 33 CFR 161; Chapter 2 U.S. Coast Pilot; and/or the VTS User's Manual. Mariners should consult these sources for applicable rules and reporting requirements. "Houston Traffic" is a full service VTS, providing a continuous Information Service; Traffic Organization Services as requisite; and Navigation Assistance Service upon request.


VESSEL TRAFFIC SERVICES - SABINE
The U.S. Coast Guard operates a mandatory Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) on the Sabine - Neches Waterway and offshore approaches. Vessel operating procedures, mandatory participation boundaries, and designated radiotelephone frequencies are published in 33 CFR 161, the U.S. Coast Pilot, and the VTS Port Arthur User Manual. Mariners should consult these sources for applicable rules and reporting requirements. "Port Arthur Traffic" is a full service VTS, providing a continuous Information Service; Traffic Organization Services and Navigational Assistance Service as required.


WATER LEVELS, CURRENTS, AND TIDES
Real-time water levels, tide predictions, and tidal current predictions are available on the internet from NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) at https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/water_level_info.html and https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/currents_info.html.


COMMENTS REQUESTED
NOAA encourages users to submit inquiries, discrepancies, or comments about this chart via NOAA's ASSIST tool at https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/customer-service/assist/ .


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