For Mariners

The OOI consists of five marine scientific arrays located in the North and South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Some of the infrastructure is on the surface as lighted buoys, while other infrastructure is below the surface, reaching seafloor depths of 1400 meters. All locations of the OOI assets are reported to the U.S Coast Guard.

Should mariners have a problem or a question regarding the arrays, please call one of the numbers below:

Safety Precautions

To ensure the safety of mariners and integrity of the ocean-based equipment, precautions need to be taken. These precautions vary according to location. The OOI worked with the Oregon Fishermen’s Cable Committee (OFCC) for siting of infrastructure and to develop precautions. The OOI sites were designated as follows:

Voluntary Avoidance Areas (VAA): areas around a mooring position or site center. Mariners/fishers should voluntarily avoid this area to prevent gear entanglement.

Precautionary Area (PA): areas where the cable is not buried to target depth or where the depth of burial is not known. PA areas are advisory only, with a PA safety zone radius in all depths a minimum 0.25 nm (463m). Fishers are not restricted from fishing with gear on the seabed in PA areas.

Known Cable Exposure Areas (KCE): areas where the submarine cable is on the surface, suspended, minimally buried or visibly exposed in a wide trench. At depths greater than 300 fathoms (550m), travel is restricted to within 0.25 nautical miles (~463m) of the exposure. At depths of less than 300 fathoms (550m), the KCE safety zone is enlarged to 0.40 nautical miles (~741m) from the exposure. Inside these safety zones, fishers are prohibited from towing fish gear on the seabed.

Site Specific Information

The OOI consists of five active arrays providing data around the clock. Data from the discontinued Global Southern Ocean and Global Argentine Basin Arrays remain available for research.

Mobile Assets

Local Notices to Mariners (LNM)