The Marine Environment Protection Committee,
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Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Resolutions - Marine Environment Protection Committee - Resolution MEPC.268(68) - Designation of the South-West Coral Sea as an Extension of the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait Particularly Sensitive Sea Area – (Adopted on 15 May 2015) - The Marine Environment Protection Committee,

The Marine Environment Protection Committee,

BEING AWARE of the ecological, social, cultural, economic and scientific attributes of the south-west Coral Sea, as well as its vulnerability to damage by international shipping activities and the steps taken by the Government of Australia to address that vulnerability,

NOTING the Revised guidelines for the Identification and Designation of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSA Guidelines), adopted by the Assembly by resolution A.982(24), and the Revised Guidance Document for submission of PSSA proposals to IMO (MEPC.1/Circ.510),

RECALLING resolution MEPC.133(53), by which the Torres Strait (TS) was designated as an extension of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA),

HAVING CONSIDERED the proposal made by the Government of Australia to extend the GBR and TS PSSA to include the south-west part of the Coral Sea,

HAVING AGREED, at its sixty-eighth session, that the criteria for the identification and designation of a PSSA provided in resolution A.982(24) are fulfilled for the extension of the GBR and TS PSSA to include the south-west part of the Coral Sea,

HAVING NOTED that the Sub-Committee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue (NCSR), at its second session, approved the establishment of two 5 nautical mile wide two-way routes and a new area to be avoided in the south-west Coral Sea as associated protective measures for the application to extend the GBR and TS PSSA to include the south-west part of the Coral Sea to improve the safety of navigation and the protection of the marine environment,

1 DESIGNATES the south-west part of the Coral Sea, as defined in annex 1 to the present resolution, as an extension of the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait PSSA pending the final adoption of the associated protective measures for the PSSA, as set out in annex 1 of document NCSR 2/23;

2 INVITES Member Governments to recognize the ecological, social, cultural, economic and scientific attributes of the Coral Sea area, set forth in annex 2 to the present resolution, as well as its vulnerability to damage by international shipping activities, as described in annex 3 to the present resolution;

3 FURTHER INVITES Member Governments to note the associated protective measures established to address the area's vulnerability, the details of which are contained in annex 4 to the present resolution, which are expected to enter into force following final adoption by the ninety-fifth session of the Maritime Safety Committee, on a date to be circulated by the Organization to all Member Governments, and request ships flying their flag to act in accordance with such measures.

Parent topic: Resolution MEPC.268(68) - Designation of the South-West Coral Sea as an Extension of the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait Particularly Sensitive Sea Area – (Adopted on 15 May 2015)
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