The State - News from Dec. 1, 1986

A communication system that will help ships avoid collisions in the fog off the Northern California coast will be activated by the Coast Guard. The Offshore Vessel Movement Reporting System encompasses an area within a 29- to 41-mile radius from the large navigation buoy in the center of the 12-mile-wide precautionary zone outside the Golden Gate. About 30 deep-draft vessels daily travel the three approaches within the zone. Vessels nearing either end of the approach lanes will call the Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Service and report their type, name, position, route, speed and estimated time of arrival at the buoy. The information will then be broadcast over a radio channel.