marine safety in the Dee Conservancy A guide to safe navigation We are Environment Agency Wales. It’s our job to look after your environment and make it a better place – for you, and for future generations. Your environment is the air you breathe, the water you drink and the ground you walk on. Working with business, Government and society as a whole, we are making your environment cleaner and healthier. Environment Agency Wales. Out there, making your environment a better place. Published by: Environment Agency Wales Cambria House 29 Newport Road Cardiff CF24 OTP Tel: 0870 8506506 Email: [email protected] www.environment-agency.wales.gov.uk © Environment Agency Wales All rights reserved. This document may be reproduced with prior permission of the Environment Agency Wales. Foreword by Director Wales Introduction to the Dee Estuary The Dee estuary can be a dangerous place, with shifting sands and strong tidal currents. Those that sail there need to be aware of the dangers and ready to deal with them safely. In spite of this, it has been an important route for trading ships for at least two thousand years. But the safety standards that were Modern trade brings larger ships to the good enough for the Roman Empire estuary, and once more it is playing an were not good enough for the coastal important part in the area’s economy. traders of the industrial age. Since We have produced this booklet to 1889 the Dee Conservancy has help all users of the estuary to regulated navigation in the estuary understand the hazards, to know what and provided aids to help ships to get to look out for, what to avoid and how through safely. This duty is now the to respond in an emergency. I hope responsibility of Environment Agency you will find this information useful Wales and we continue to take Health and, whether you are afloat to make a and Safety very seriously. living or just for fun, you will continue Sea traffic in the Conservancy to use the estuary safely. dwindled during the latter part of the 20th century, but recently it has begun to revive. Commercial fishing, recreational sailing and water sports are also on the increase, and there is Dr Helen Phillips commercial traffic passing as far Director Wales upstream as Broughton near Chester. Contents The Dee Conservancy 3 Policy Statement 4 General safety considerations for users of the Dee Conservancy 5 Navigational safety in the Dee Conservancy 12 Emergency Reporting Procedure 32 Contact Information 36 2 Environment Agency Wales: The Dee Conservancy The Dee Conservancy Dee Conservancy is the formal name given to a defined area for which Environment Agency Wales is the conservancy, harbour and local lighthouse authority. This area includes the River Dee and its estuary, extending from Wilcox Point downstream of the weir at Chester, seawards to an imaginary line linking the Point of Ayr on the Welsh coast to Hilbre Point on the Wirral peninsular. (See map page 14). The Dee Conservancy is used for The level of risk is particularly high commercial and recreational activities to those who are inexperienced including navigation, fishing, sailing, and lack knowledge of local power boating, water skiing, conditions. Environment Agency wind-surfing, bird watching, Wales as conservancy, harbour and wildfowling and walking. The shifting local lighthouse authority has nature of the sandbanks in the prepared this booklet following a estuary, strong tidal streams and formal assessment of risk, to draw changeable weather conditions are all attention to the hazards identified hazards that may pose a high level of and to promote and encourage safety risk to the safety of people who amongst all those who use the participating in these activities. Dee Conservancy. Environment Agency Wales: The Dee Conservancy 3 Policy Statement Environment Agency Wales has developed, documented and implemented a Safety Management System for the Dee Conservancy. As the conservancy, harbour and local lighthouse authority for the Dee Conservancy Environment Agency Wales is committed to promoting good management of its available resources so as to: • Undertake and regulate marine • Promote the use of the Dee operations in a way that safeguards Conservancy and ensure that its the Dee Conservancy, its users, the economic development takes into public and the environment to account and balances the views achieve the standard of marine and needs of all stakeholders with safety required by the Port Marine the use of natural resources and Safety Code, conservation of the environment. and 4 Environment Agency Wales: The Dee Conservancy General safety considerations for users of the Dee Conservancy Natural hazards have the potential to cause harm or injury to inexperienced and unwary users of the Dee Conservancy. Strong tidal streams, frequent changes in the navigable channel, adjacent drying sandbanks and changeable weather conditions are particularly significant. Recreational activities such as walking isolating extensive areas of the higher are concentrated over the low water sandbanks. period when the majority of sandbanks In such conditions the unwary may are exposed and appear attractive, well find themselves quickly cut-off particularly in sunlight. However in from the shore and safety. For this some parts of the estuary there are reason, those intending to engage in areas of soft sand and mud where it is such recreational activities should first dangerous to walk and also dangerous familiarise themselves with the times for those who may be requested to of tides and periods during which they render assistance in an emergency. may safely access appropriate parts of The term spring tides refers to the the estuary, such as the area between tides that are coincident with the new West Kirby and the Hilbre Islands. It is and full moon in each month, when also important to ensure that you are the highest rise and lowest fall of tide properly equipped and have reliable may be expected. In the Dee estuary, means of communication. Information the in-going (flood) tide enters the about the estuary and tides can be gullies and shallow channels first, found on Local Authority notice boards rising rapidly on spring tides and located adjacent to public access points Environment Agency Wales: The Dee Conservancy 5 Estuary channels between extensive sandbanks. 6 Environment Agency Wales Dee Conservancy such as West Kirby, or by contacting the applicable in compliance with the relevant council. (see the numbers appropriate Regulations or Code of listed in the Contact Information on Practice. Information and guidance in page 36). these matters is available from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (see Information can also be obtained from page 36 – Contact Information). the Dee Conservancy Harbour Master Advice may also be obtained from or the pilotage authority during office Environment Agency Wales as hours (see the numbers listed in the conservancy and harbour authority. Contact Information on page 36). Cockle Fishery General Advice to Vessels Anyone in possession of the Because of frequent changes in the appropriate permit and authorised to navigable channel and adjacent harvest shellfish in the Dee estuary sandbanks, the navigation buoys should be particularly aware of the marking the channel are moved as hazards posed by the speed of the necessary. Anyone in charge of a in-going tide, changeable weather and vessel without local knowledge sea conditions before engaging in that should not enter the estuary without activity. Anyone in charge of any vessel first seeking advice from the pilotage used to transport shellfish and / or authority. It is considered dangerous anyone involved in harvesting, should for vessels to ground in certain ensure that the vessel is entirely positions in the navigable channel on suitable for the purpose intended and an out-going (ebb) tide, as the sand as a minimum, is equipped with the may be washed away leaving the following: vessel liable to keel over. • One lifejacket per person (or buoyant Although the waters of the Dee estuary clothing if worn at all times). may be relatively sheltered, strong • One commercial anchor of winds blowing in the opposite direction appropriate type and weight, with 2 to the tidal stream can rapidly generate metres of 6mm chain plus sea conditions that pose a hazard to appropriate warp of 15 metres length small craft. The person in charge of any with one end secured to a strong vessel intending to use the Dee point in the vessel. Conservancy should be competent to do so and obtain up to date • Two red parachute flares and two information on present and forecast smoke signals. weather conditions. They should also • One gas canister foghorn or other ensure that the vessel is properly means of making appropriate sound manned and equipped, where signals. Environment Agency Wales Dee Conservancy 7 The bore in the canalised section of the river approaching Queensferry at the start of the spring flood tide. • Baler or container that could be River Dee. On a spring tide a rise of used for that purpose, (this may about 8.0 metres (26.2 feet) can be contain the flares, smoke signals expected near the entrance to the and foghorn). estuary. This would correspond to a • Waterproof torch and batteries. rise of tide of about 3.0 metres (9.8 feet) upriver at Chester. Tidal considerations The bed of the river rises from the The tidal regime in the canalised mouth of the estuary towards section of the river is therefore very Chester. This means that the rise of different from the outer estuary where tide found in the outer estuary is the in-going (flood) tidal stream runs much greater than that experienced for about 5.5 hours and out-going in the canalised section of the (ebb) for about 6.5 hours.