Nantucket Shoals
Encyclopedia
Nantucket Shoals is an area of dangerously shallow water in the Atlantic Ocean
that extends from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts
, eastward for 23 miles (37 km) and southeastward for 40 miles (64.4 km); in places water depth can be as shallow as 3 foot (0.9144 m). Depth soundings are unpredictable due to constant change from strong currents. The shoals lie just off a major transatlantic shipping lane
. Numerous ships have been wrecked here, most recent and notably the oil tanker
Argo Merchant
in December 1976. Until 1983, the edge of the shoals was guarded by the Nantucket Lightship.
Nantucket Shoals is made up of the following features:
According to the 2010 edition of the United States Coast Pilot
, the International Maritime Organization
has established an "area to be avoided" for the Nantucket Shoals. Vessels transporting oil or hazardous materials and vessels of more than 1,000 gross tons should avoid the area bounded by the following points (Note: not for navigational use):
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
that extends from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, eastward for 23 miles (37 km) and southeastward for 40 miles (64.4 km); in places water depth can be as shallow as 3 foot (0.9144 m). Depth soundings are unpredictable due to constant change from strong currents. The shoals lie just off a major transatlantic shipping lane
Sea lane
A sea lane or shipping lane is a regularly used route for ocean-going and Great Lakes vessels. In the time of sailing ships they were not only determined by the distribution of land masses but also the prevailing winds, whose discovery was crucial for the success of long voyages...
. Numerous ships have been wrecked here, most recent and notably the oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
Argo Merchant
Argo Merchant
MV Argo Merchant was a Liberian-flagged oil tanker built by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Hamburg, Germany in 1953, most noted for running aground and subsequent sinking southeast of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, causing one of the largest marine oil spills in history...
in December 1976. Until 1983, the edge of the shoals was guarded by the Nantucket Lightship.
- Asia Rip
- Davis Bank
- Fishing Rip
- Middle Rip
- Phelps Bank
According to the 2010 edition of the United States Coast Pilot
Coast Pilots
United States Coast Pilots is a nine-volume American navigation publication distributed yearly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Coast Survey. The purpose of the publication is to supplement nautical charts of United States of America waters. Information comes...
, the International Maritime Organization
International Maritime Organization
The International Maritime Organization , formerly known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization , was established in Geneva in 1948, and came into force ten years later, meeting for the first time in 1959...
has established an "area to be avoided" for the Nantucket Shoals. Vessels transporting oil or hazardous materials and vessels of more than 1,000 gross tons should avoid the area bounded by the following points (Note: not for navigational use):