RECALLING Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Assembly in
relation to regulations and guidelines concerning maritime safety
and the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships,
RECALLING ALSO resolution A.858(20) by which the Assembly,
recognizing the need for an expeditious adoption and amendment procedure
for traffic separation schemes, routeing measures other than traffic
separation schemes, including the designation and substitution of
archipelagic sea lanes, and ship reporting systems, resolved that
all the aforementioned functions shall be performed by the Maritime
Safety Committee on behalf of the Organization,
RECALLING FURTHER that the Galapagos Archipelago and its
surrounding waters have been declared a national and world heritage
site, recognized worldwide for its scientific and cultural importance,
NOTING the urgent necessity and importance of implementing
the new Area to be Avoided in the Galapagos Archipelago proposed by
the Government of Ecuador in order to enhance maritime safety, safety
of navigation and protection of the marine environment in the area
concerned, and the invitation by the Maritime Safety Committee at
its eightieth session to the Assembly to adopt the proposed new Area
to be Avoided, subject to the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation
being satisfied that all the pertinent criteria had been met,
NOTING ALSO the urgent need to safeguard the unique ecological
system in the Galapagos Archipelago,
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Guidelines for the Identification
and Designation of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas adopted by resolution
A.927(22),
HAVING NOTED the designation by the Marine Environment Protection
Committee, by resolution MEPC.135(53),
of the Galapagos Archipelago as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area
(PSSA) including the establishment of an Associated Protective Measure
(APM),
HAVING CONSIDERED the report of the Maritime Safety Committee
at its eightieth session and the recommendations of the Sub-Committee
on Safety of Navigation at its fifty-first session,
1 ADOPTS the new Area to be Avoided in the Galapagos
Archipelago, as set out in the annex to the present resolution, for
implementation at 0000 hours UTC on 1 July 2006;
2 DECIDES that the ships' routeing system adopted
in operative paragraph 1 should be considered as the Associated Protective
Measure (APM) for the Galapagos Archipelago;
3 REQUESTS the Secretariat to issue, as soon as
possible, an SN circular containing the aforementioned Area to be
Avoided.