New Dock Address System in San Francisco

On March 31, 2005 the Vessel Traffic Service San Francisco (VTS) will implement a standardized system of dock addresses throughout the San Francisco Bay Region.

This new system was developed by the Navigation Working Group of the San Francisco Bay Region Harbor Safety Committee to remedy the problem of frequently changing dock names after changes in ownership.

Implementation of this system will significantly enhance the safety of vessels operating on San Francisco Bay by reducing confusion regarding each vessel’s destination. In addition, this new system offers benefits to maritime security, including increased ability for emergency responders to quickly identify exact dock locations during a maritime incident.

This new system identifies each dock with a permanent name and number; it also provides a succinct destination code for each vessel’s Automatic Identification System (AIS), enhancing the use of the new system over VHF marine band radio.