01/12/2005
- London, UK – The Baltic Sea, as well as the Torres Straits,
the Galapagos Islands and the Canary Islands, have officially
been classified by the International Maritime Organization
(IMO) as Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSA).
A PSSA designation — which requires ships to take special
care when navigating through areas of ecological, economic,
cultural or scientific significance — can be used to protect
a variety of marine and coastal habitats.
After adopting several associated protected measures (APM)
at a recent meeting of the IMO, two areas within Sweden's
territorial waters — Hoburgs Bank and Norra Midsjöbanken
— will now be "areas to be avoided", especially
by shipping activities, in order to protect this part of
the Baltic Sea.
"WWF has been promoting the need for a Baltic Sea PSSA
for years and is pleased that it is now final," said
Lasse Gustavsson, Director of WWF’s Baltic Ecoregion Action
Programme. "The decision demonstrates that the Baltic
is among some of the most sensitive seas in the world."
The Baltic Sea has some of the busiest maritime traffic
in the world. Large number of islands, narrow straits and
routes that are difficult to navigate, and long annual periods
of ice cover greatly increase the risk of a devastating
oil accident in the Baltic Sea. Several protected areas,
such as Baltic Sea Protected Areas (BSPA), Natura 2000 and
Ramsar sites, exist adjacent to oil transportation routes.
The Baltic Sea is also an important migratory route for
black guillemot, waterfowl, geese and waders, and provides
valuable habitat for marine mammals such as grey seals,
Baltic ringed seals and harbour porpoises.
Other new protected measures, which were also adopted by
the IMO, include new traffic separation schemes and a recommended
deep-water route, both aimed at decreasing the risk of shipping
and oil accidents. WWF is also
urging ships to follow the IMO’s recommendation to use
pilotage when navigating from the North Sea into the entrances
to the Baltic Sea for every ship with a draught of 11m
or more, or by ships carrying hazardous cargo. Since December
2003, 10 ships with a cross-tonnage of 10,000 or more
have grounded in the Great Belt. Four of these had a draft
of 11m or more and should have taken a pilot on board
in accordance with the IMO recommendation. In light of
these statistics, and the dangers of the Danish straights,
WWF will work to see that this recommendation soon becomes
a mandatory requirement.
"We will continue to work with
governments around the Baltic to ensure that these measures
are adopted and proper protection is assured," said
Anita Mäkinen, head of WWF-Finland's marine programme.
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden were among the countries
to support the Baltic PSSA.
“We applaud the governments who have pushed hard for this
designation for years," added Gustavsson. "We
are now urging Russia to add their waters to this designation,
which would further safeguard the Baltic Sea.”
END NOTES:
• Associated Protective Measures (APMs) are binding measures
regulating shipping in an area that the IMO has designated
as a PSSA. The APMs are decided upon by the member states
of the IMO, but a proposal is submitted by the coastal
countries concerned. The APMs can be international or
territorial. APMs regulate
shipping, not ship structure, and hence requirement for
double-hull cannot be an APM.
• Traffic separation schemes can be compared with lane
divisions in motorways. Ships are referred to use a different
route when travelling from north to south and vice versa. |
