How To Report Waterway Hazards

Published: Wednesday, January 2, 2019
By: LT Amy Midgett, USCG

To keep our nation’s waterways open and safe, the Coast Guard relies on the input of the maritime community to self-report hazards to navigation, such as discrepant buoys and beacons, or debris. The Navigation Center would like to remind all waterway users, whether professional mariners or recreational boaters, of several options to report waterway hazards:

To report a waterway hazard, you can:

Call your local Coast Guard command center via VHF radio
Call the Navigation Center at (703) 313-5900
Use the Aids to Navigation Discrepancy Report found on the Navigation Center’s website
Use the Coast Guard boating safety app

Launched in 2015, the Boating Safety Mobile app was designed to help increase safety and awareness within the maritime community. The app was not designed to replace a marine VHF radio, which the Coast Guard strongly recommends all mariners have aboard their vessels.

One of the interactive features of the boating safety app is the ability to easily report hazards. With the help of the public, 176 hazard reports were generated in 2017 and over 70 reports have been generated as of August 2018. Once a report is filed, it is sent to the Navigation Center, which in turn works with the local Coast Guard units in the affected area.

The app also provides several other useful features, such as: