You can be funny about it, but the Santa Barbara channel gets dredged twice a year. Probably wouldn’t be good for either the dredging equipment or the barrels if they’d wound in the dredge path. Some times there actually is a good reason for rules.
The "cases" holding the bottles are pretty small. The owners have a significant interest in keeping track of them.
It seems highly unlikely they would put them in the channel. Sounds like they are going to apply for the required permits and try again.
It is just a marketing ploy.