BALTIMORE — The Coast Guard is scheduled to establish a temporary regulated area Tuesday and Wednesday in designated waters in the Severn River and College Creek for a Blue Angels air show.
The regulated area will be in effect from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and from 11:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, which may limit or prohibit navigation by commercial and recreational waterway users.
If the air show cannot be conducted Tuesday due to inclement weather, the same regulated area will be enforced from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
The regulated area will include the Severn River north of the Severn River Bridge from shore to shore, and south from Luce Creek to Greenbury Point.
Orange inflatable buoys will be set by 9:30 a.m. to mark the boundary zone for Coast Guard safety and enforcement patrol operations, and can be a visual reference for spectators when setting up anchorage.
A temporary access channel marked with red and green buoys will be established near Horn Point, to allow vessels to transit into and out of Annapolis Harbor during the event; vessels operating in this area will do so at their own discretion. At no time will spectators be permitted to obstruct both the temporary access channel and the federal navigation channel outside the regulated area. In addition, a Commercial Vessel Spectator Zone is located immediately adjacent to the temporary access channel; only commercial passenger vessels will be permitted within this designated on-water spectator area.
The Coast Guard Patrol Commander may forbid and control the movement of all vessels in the regulated area. When hailed or signaled by an official patrol vessel, a vessel in the area shall immediately comply with the directions given. Failure to do so may result in expulsion from the area, citation for failure to comply or both. Spectators may contact the Patrol Commander to request permission to operate within the regulated area, but shall at all times remain outside the designated air show box; if permission is granted, spectators must proceed at a safe speed and without loitering.
"We have coordinated closely with our inter-agency and port partners to minimize the impact of the security zone," said Cmdr. Michael Keane, chief of response at Coast Guard Sector Baltimore. "We do this while still meeting security requirements for the Blue Angels air show."
The Coast Guard may be assisted in the patrol and enforcement of this area by federal, state and local agencies. For any comments or questions, contact Coast Guard Sector Baltimore at (410) 576-2693, or use marine-band radio via VHF-FM channel 16.