ns 



accuracies on the order of 50 feet in the 

 zone within approximately 200 miles of 

 the U.S. coast. Development' work should 

 be focused on low-cost systems to permit 

 undersea navigation of civilian submer- 

 sibles. The Coast Guard's efforts to de- 

 velop a national navigation plan are 

 strongly endorsed. Systems studies should 

 be initiated immediately to define an op- 

 timum system to meet needs for offshore 

 precision positioning in the late 1970's. 



Safety at Sea 



During- 1967, 1,500 commercial vessels suf- 

 fered collisions and otlier accidents in U.S. 

 waters. In addition, there were some 5,274 

 accidents involving recreational boats wliich 

 resulted in 1,452 fatalities. As more pei-sons 

 go to and under the sea, the problem of as- 

 suring tlieir safety becomes more difficult. 



Control of Offshore Traffic 



Tlie great size of merchant vessels, their 

 transport of cargoes which create a hazard 

 to the environment, and the intensified use 

 of the coastal zone combine to present an in- 

 creasing danger. Proposals have been ad- 

 vanced for traffic control systems analogous 

 to those used in the U.S. airways. In addi- 

 tion, plans are being developed to set aside 

 shipping lanes wliicli will separate inbound 

 and outbound traffic and provide a fairway 

 clear of obstructions to navigation. The Com- 

 mission strongly endorses these steps. Ad- 

 vance planning will avert a crasli program 

 following a disaster at some future date. 

 Coastal waters already are .sufficiently con- 

 gested to suggest that the Coast Guard 

 should subject to traffic control all ships car- 

 rying liazardous cargo near U.S. coasts and 

 in congested areas. 



Certification 



The Coast Guard is tlie major Government 

 agency for certifying tlie safety of marine 



vessels and equipment and for licensing its 

 personnel. It is assisted by such private or- 

 ganizations as tlie American Bureau of Ship- 

 ping and by tlie States in tlie recreational 

 boating field. 



Federal laws regidating vessel safety stand- 

 ards are badly outdated and often unclear 

 or conflicting. The prospect of larger and 

 more numerous vessels carrying even greater 

 quantities of hazardous cargoes emphasizes 

 the urgent need to reconsider these laws. Tlie 

 American Bureau of Shipping and the Coast 

 Guard cooperatively should review and up- 

 date construction standards. 



The large number of accidents to fishing 

 vessels, which now -are generally exempt 

 from Coast Guard regulation, suggests that 

 safety standards should be framed for them 

 also. The industry should participate in this 

 task. 



Standards also are needed for the con- 

 struction of civilian submersibles. Legisla- 

 tion has been introduced by the Coast Guard 

 to authorize extension of its certification pro- 

 gram to include such undersea vessels. The 

 Commission endorses the Coast Guard pro- 

 posal, but urges that a distinction be made 

 between standards for experimental and re- 

 search submersibles and those for all other 

 submersibles. Advances in the technology of 

 civil submersibles could be unnecessarily 

 handicapped by requiring research and ex- 

 perimental models to meet the stringent 

 standards necessary for general public 

 safety. Expanding marine technologj' will 

 result in new experimental surface craft and 

 other devices. This will necessitate reevalua- 

 tion of present Coast Guard certification pro- 

 cedures to promote public safety without 

 posing undue restrictions in research and 

 technology. 



The Commission recommends that the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric 



