[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 33, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 33CFR162.134]

[Page 585]
 
                TITLE 33--NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
 
   CHAPTER I--COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 162--INLAND WATERWAYS NAVIGATION REGULATIONS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 162.134  Connecting waters from Lake Huron to Lake Erie; traffic rules.

    (a) Detroit River. The following traffic rules apply in the Detroit 
River:
    (1) The West Outer Channel is restricted to downbound vessels.
    (2) The Livingston Channel, west of Bois Blanc Island, is restricted 
to downbound vessels.
    Note: The Amherstburg Channel, in Canadian waters east of Bois Blanc 
Island, is normally restricted to upbound vessels. No vessel may proceed 
downbound in the Amherstburg Channel without authorization from the 
Regional Director General.
    (3) Between Fighting Island Channel South Light and Bar Point Pier 
Light 29D, no vessels shall meet or overtake in such a manner that more 
than two vessels would be abreast at any time.
    (4) Between the west end of Belle Isle and Peche Island Light, 
vessels may only overtake vessels engaged in towing.
    (b) River Rouge. In the River Rouge, no vessel shall overtake 
another vessel.
    (c) St. Clair River. The following traffic rules apply in the St. 
Clair River:
    (1) Between St. Clair Flats Canal Light 2 and Russell Island Light 
33, vessels may only overtake vessels engaged in towing.
    (2) Between Lake Huron Cut Lighted Buoy 1 and Port Huron Traffic 
Lighted Buoy there is a zone of alternating one way traffic. Masters 
shall coordinate their movements in accordance with the following rules;
    (i) Vessels shall not overtake.
    (ii) Vessels shall not come about.
    (iii) Vessels shall not meet.
    (iv) Downbound vessels which have passed Lake Huron Cut Lighted Buoy 
7 have the right of way over upbound vessels which have not reached the 
Port Huron Traffic Lighted Buoy. Upbound vessels awaiting transit of 
downbound vessels will maintain position south of the Port Huron Traffic 
Lighted Buoy.
    (v) Vessels transiting the zone shall coordinate passage by using 
communication procedures in Sec. 162.132.
    (vi) Transiting vessels shall have the right of way over moored 
vessels getting underway within the zone.
    (d) In the waters described in Sec. 162.130(a), the District 
Commander or Captain of the Port may establish temporary traffic rules 
for reasons which include but are not limited to: channel obstructions, 
winter navigation, unusual weather conditions, or unusual water levels.
    (e) The requirements of this section do not apply to public vessels 
of the U.S. or Canada engaged in icebreaking or servicing aids to 
navigation or to vessels engaged in river and harbor improvement work.
    (f) The prohibitions in this section on overtaking in certain areas 
do not apply to vessels operating in the nondisplacement mode. In this 
section, ``nondisplacement mode'' means a mode of operation in which the 
vessel is supported by hydrodynamic forces, rather than displacement of 
its weight in the water, to an extent such that the wake which would 
otherwise be generated by the vessel is significantly reduced.

[CGD 78-151, 49 FR 18302, Apr. 30, 1984; 49 FR 26722, June 29, 1984, as 
amended by CGD 09-95-002, 60 FR 35701, July 11, 1995]