Fixed mooring points planned to protect Monaco bay seabed
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
The Direction des Affaires Maritimes is introducing an organised mooring zone in the Baie de Monaco to replace repeated anchoring with fixed points.
Years of repeated anchoring in the Baie de Monaco have taken a visible toll on the seabed, and the Direction des Affaires Maritimes is now moving to change that. The plan, developed over several years, will replace the current practice of boats dropping anchor wherever they choose with a network of fixed mooring points across a designated zone of the bay.
The shift matters for anyone who knows these waters. Repeated anchor drops scrape and disturb the seabed season after season, damaging marine habitats that take years to recover. Fixed moorings remove that cycle of disturbance, allowing the seabed to stabilise rather than being churned up by every new arrival.
Beyond the environmental benefit, the organised zone is also designed with safety in mind. Concentrating vessels at fixed points should make for calmer, more predictable navigation in a bay that gets busy with pleasure craft and yacht traffic through the season, reducing the risk of collisions or tangled anchor lines that can come with free anchoring.