Guidelines for the Design, Maintenance and Safe Use of Shipping Channels 2025

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) is mandated under the Oceans Act, 41 (1), to provide maintenance and management services for the main shipping channels to ensure the safe and efficient movement of vessels in Canadian waters. In support of this mandate, CCG's National Waterways Management Program provides and keeps up to date the Guidelines for the Design, Maintenance and Safe Use of Shipping Channels.

The purpose of the guidelines is to outline the methods, design requirements and operating parameters for assessing the safe widths, depths and bends required in Canadian waterways and shipping channels. They are aimed at CCG navigation program officers, engineers, users involved in the design and maintenance of these channels, such as pilotage associations and port authorities, as well as various maritime industry stakeholders, such as shipping companies or their representatives.

To take account of the latest technological advances and changes in ship design, design methods and channel usage patterns, the National Waterways Management Program has undertaken to modernize its guidelines: the 2025 edition replaces the 2001 edition as the new CCG recommendations. Completely rewritten, the guidelines now take the form of a technical manual. Their development was based on a comparative analysis of the most widely recognized references, including the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses (PIANC), the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the Spanish government's Recomendaciones para Obras Marítimas (ROM). A new web application also supports the guidelines. This design tool, supported by a user guide, facilitates their implementation. The results provide recommended safe channel widths and depths to compensate for the effects of various environmental, hydrodynamic and other factors, in relation to the characteristics of a target ship, and detailed in the guidelines.

Several improvements have therefore been made to the present edition, including:

complete rewriting of the chapter on the baseline data required for channel design, with a more detailed presentation of the main data required
complete review and updating of the parameters, values and formulas recommended for calculating safe width, designing curves and establishing applicable allowances to determine a safe depth, including addition of certain parameters
extensive review now allowing the guidelines to be applied to both types of shipping channels, i.e. sheltered inner channels (waterways) and wave-exposed outer channels
new chapter on dynamic motions of commercial ships affecting horizontal and vertical shipping channel design
addition of a critical presentation and comparative analysis of the three main methods for calculating the required allowance for wave response
review and improvement of the chapter on channel bends, with the added details on their safe use in shipping channels
comprehensive, updated and considerably expanded bibliography, with bibliographic guidelines on specific points inserted in the guidelines
addition of a technical summary presenting, in the form of summary tables, the various values and formulas to be applied in assessing the widths, depths and bends of shipping channels
the new guidelines do not address the question of air draft clearance, nor the risks related to the management of shipping channels

To request a copy of the 2025 edition of the Guidelines for the Design, Maintenance and Safe Use of Shipping Channels and related tools and documents, or for any technical questions about them, contact the Canadian Coast Guard's National Waterways Management Program: dfo.waterwaysmanagement-gestionvoiesnavigables.mpo@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

For any other questions: dfo.ccginfo-infogcc.mpo@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

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2026-01-06

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Guidelines for the Design, Maintenance and Safe Use of Shipping Channels 2025

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