Safety Zone; NOBLE DISCOVERER, Outer Continental Shelf Drillship, Chukchi and/or Beaufort Seas, AK

The Coast Guard is establishing a 500-meter safety zone in the navigable waters, from the surface to seabed, around the DRILLSHIP NOBLE DISCOVERER, while anchored or deploying and recovering moorings on location in order to drill exploratory wells at various prospects located in the Chukchi and/or Beaufort Seas Outer Continental Shelf, Alaska, on or about July 1, 2012 through November 30, 2012. See TABLE 1. The purpose of the temporary safety zone is to protect the drillship from vessels operating outside the normal shipping channels and fairways. Placing a safety zone around the drillship will significantly reduce the threat of allisions, which could result in oil spills, and releases of natural gas, and thereby protect the safety of life, property, and the environment. Lawful demonstrations may be conducted outside of the safety zone.

Agency Contact: If you have questions on this rule, call or email LT Jason Smilie, Seventeenth Coast Guard District (dpi); telephone 907-463-2809, Jason.A.Smilie@uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.