NOAA ENCŪ

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

US5PLQDI - MISSISSIPPI RIVER - SOUTHWEST PASS - MILE 17 RDB


INDEX:

NOTE A
AIDS TO NAVIGATION
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
WARNING - PRUDENT MARINER
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
AUTHORITIES
ADMINISTRATION AREA
BROADCASTS OF MARINE WEATHER FORECASTS AND WARNINGS BY MARINE RADIOTELEPHONE STATIONS
CALLING-IN POINTS
CAUTION - FLOATING DEBRIS
CAUTION - GAS AND OIL WELL STRUCTURES
CAUTION - QUALITY OF BATHYMETRIC DATA
CAUTION - SUBMARINE PIPELINES AND CABLES
CAUTION - SURVEY
CAUTION - TEMPORARY CHANGES
CAUTION - USE OF RADIO SIGNALS (LIMITATIONS) 
CAUTION - WARNING CONCERNING LARGE VESSELS
COLREGS DEMARCATION LINE
HORIZONTAL DATUM
HURRICANES AND TROPICAL STORMS
MARINE WEATHER FORECASTS AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
MINERAL DEVELOPMENT STRUCTURES
MISSISSIPPI RIVER - BUOYS
NOAA WEATHER RADIO BROADCASTS
POLLUTION REPORTS
OCEAN DUMPING SITES
RADAR REFLECTORS
RULES OF THE ROAD (ABRIDGED)
SMALL CRAFT WARNINGS
SOUNDING AND COASTLINE DATUM
WATER LEVELS, CURRENTS, AND TIDES
VESSEL TRAFFIC SERVICES
COMMENTS REQUESTED


NOTES:

NOTE A
Navigation regulations are published in Chapter 2, U.S. Coast Pilot 5. Additions or revisions to Chapter 2 are published in the Notice to Mariners. Information concerning the regulations may be obtained at the Office of the Commander, 8th Coast Guard District in New Orleans, LA, or at the Office of the District Engineer, Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, LA. Refer to charted regulations section numbers. 


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


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


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 the 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.


ADMINISTRATION AREA
The entire extent of this ENC cell falls within the limits of an Administration Area. This area covers land, internal waters, and territorial sea.  The territorial sea is a maritime zone over which the United States exercises sovereignty extending to the airspace as well as to its bed and subsoil.  For more information, please refer to the Coast Pilot.


BROADCASTS OF MARINE WEATHER FORECASTS AND WARNINGS BY MARINE RADIOTELEPHONE STATIONS
CITY               STATION   	FREQ.                     BROADCAST TIMES (UTC)        NOTE

New Orleans, LA    NMG       	4316, 8502, 12788 kHz     0330, 0930, 1530, 2130Z      Offshore forecasts, hurricane information
                                                       	  0515, 1115, 1715, 2315Z      Highseas forecasts, hurricane information

New Orleans, LA		     	*157.1 MHz (VHF Ch. 22A)  1035z, 1235z, 1635z, 2235z

*Broadcasts are announced on VHF Ch. 16 (156.8 MHz)


CALLING-IN POINTS
Vessel Traffic Services calling-in point, arrow indicates direction of vessel movement. Mandatory calling-in points are identified alphabetically. For additional information see U.S. Coast Pilot 5 and U.S. Notice to Mariners.


CAUTION - FLOATING DEBRIS
Mariners are warned that logs and other floating debris are constant dangers to navigation. Night travel by small craft is not recommended because of the hazard of floating obstructions.


CAUTION - GAS AND OIL WELL STRUCTURES
Uncharted platforms, gas and oil well structures, pipes, piles and stakes can exist within the limits of this chart.


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.


CAUTION - SURVEY
Survey platforms, signs, pipes, piles, and stakes, some submerged, may exist along the maintained channels. Piles and platforms are not charted where they interfere with a light symbol.


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


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.


CAUTION - WARNING CONCERNING LARGE VESSELS
The "Rules of the Road" state that recreational boats shall not impede the passage of a vessel that can navigate only within a narrow channel or fairway. Large vessels may appear to move slowly due to their large size but actually transit at speeds in excess of 12 knots, requiring a great distance in which to maneuver or stop. A large vessel's superstructure may block the wind with the result that sailboats and sailboards may unexpectedly find themselves unable to maneuver. Bow and stern waves can be hazardous to small vessels. Large vessels may not be able to see small craft close to their bows.


COLREGS DEMARCATION LINE
Colregs demarcation lines follow the general trend at the seaward high water shoreline except where charted.


HORIZONTAL DATUM
The NOAA ENC references the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS-84). For charting purposes, the horizontal control of the current realization of WGS-84 is functionally equivalent to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2020 (ITRF2020) at the meter level for charts at scales of 1:5,000 or smaller.


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.


MARINE WEATHER FORECASTS AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
CITY                    TELEPHONE NUMBER	NOTE

New Orleans, LA 	(504) 522-7330		24 hour recorded message


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).


MISSISSIPPI RIVER - BUOYS
Due to frequently changing river stages and river currents, which often necessitate the repositioning, discontinuance, and establishment of floating aids to navigation, many buoys maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard are not shown, with the exception of the Huey P. Long Bridge approach buoys and the lighted wreck buoy "WR4" at mile 115.4. Consult the U.S. Coast Guard Light List (Vol IV, Gulf of America) and the Local Notice to Mariners, for additional information.


NOAA WEATHER RADIO BROADCASTS 
The NOAA Weather Radio station listed below provides continuous weather broadcasts. The reception range is typically 20 to 40 nautical miles from the antenna site, but can be as much as 100 nautical miles for stations at high elevations. 

Buras, LA	WXL-41		162.475 MHz


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).


OCEAN DUMPING SITES
Regulations for Ocean Dumping Sites are contained in 40 CFR, Parts 220-228. Additional information concerning the regulations and requirements for use of the sites may be obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). See U.S. Coast Pilots appendix for addresses of EPA offices. Dumping subsequent to the survey dates may have reduced the depths shown.


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.


RULES OF THE ROAD (ABRIDGED)
Motorless craft have the right-of-way in almost all cases. Sailing vessels and motorboats less than 19.8 meters/65 feet in length shall not hamper, in a narrow channel, the safe passage of a vessel which can navigate only inside that channel. A motorboat being overtaken has the right-of-way. Motorboats approaching head to head or nearly so should pass port to port. When Motorboats approach each other at right angles or obliquely, the boat on the right has the right-of-way in most cases. Motorboats must keep to the right in narrow channels when safe and practicable. Mariners are urged to become familiar with the complete text of the Rules of the Road in U.S. Coast Guard publication "Amalgamated International & U.S. Inland Navigation Rules".


SMALL CRAFT WARNINGS
Small crafts should stay clear of large commercial and government vessels even if small crafts have the right-of-way. All crafts should avoid areas where the skin divers flag, a red square with a diagonal white stripe, is displayed. Small craft operators are warned to beware of severe water turbulence caused by large vessels traversing narrow waterways.


SOUNDING AND COASTLINE DATUM
Soundings and coastlines refer to Low Water Reference Plane (LWRP), related to Mean Sea Level, established by the Corps of Engineers.
Heights and contour elevations refer to mean sea level.
Bridge and overhead cable clearances refer to the Mississippi River 1927 High Water Plane (HWP).


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.


VESSEL TRAFFIC SERVICES
The U.S. Coast Guard operates a mandatory vessel Traffic Services (VTS) system in the Lower Mississippi River. Vessel operating procedures and designated radiotelephone frequencies are published in 33 CFR 161, the U.S. Coast Pilot, and/or the VTS User's Manual. Mariners should consult these sources for applicable rules and reporting requirements. Although mandatory VTS participation is limited to the navigable waters of the United States, certain vessels are encouraged or may be required, as a condition of port entry, to report beyond this area to facilitate traffic management within the VTS area.


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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