The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Sewage and Garbage from Ships) Regulations 2008

Meaning of “Special Area” in Part 5

3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), for the purposes of Part 5, a “Special Area” is any of the following areas, that is to say—

(a) the Antarctic area;

(b) the Baltic Sea area, which means the Baltic Sea proper with the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the entrance to the Baltic Sea bounded by the parallel of the Skaw in the Skagerrak at 57°44.8’ N;

(c) the Black Sea area, which means the Black Sea proper with the boundary between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea constituted by the parallel 41° N;

(d) the Gulfs area, which means the sea area located north-west of the rhumb line between Ras al Hadd (22°30’ N, 59°48’ E) and Ras al Fasteh (25°04’ N, 61°25’ E);

(e) the Mediterranean Sea area, which means the Mediterranean Sea proper including the gulfs and seas therein with the boundary between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea constituted by the 41° N parallel and bounded to the west by the Straits of Gibraltar at the meridian 5°36’ W;

(f) the North Sea area, which means the North Sea proper including the seas within the following boundaries—

(i) the North Sea southwards of latitude 62° N and eastwards of longitude 4° W,

(ii) the Skagerrak, the southern limit of which is determined east of the Skaw by latitude 57°44.8’ N, and

(iii) the English Channel and its approaches eastwards of longitude 5° W and northwards of latitude 48°30’ N;

(g) the Red Sea area, which means the Red Sea proper including the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba bounded at the south by the rhumb line between Ras si Ane (12°28.5’ N, 43°19.6’ E) and Husn Murad (12°40.4’ N, 43°30.2’E);

(h) the Wider Caribbean Region, which means the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea proper including the bays and seas therein and that portion of the Atlantic Ocean within the boundary constituted by the 30° N parallel from Florida eastward to 77°30’ W meridian, thence a rhumb line to the intersection of 20° N parallel and 59° W meridian, thence a rhumb line to the intersection of 7°20’ N parallel and 50° W meridian, thence a rhumb line drawn south–westerly to the eastern boundary of French Guiana.

(2) An area referred to in paragraph (1)(c), (e), (g) or (h) is not a Special Area until such date as the IMO—

(a) establishes, pursuant to paragraph (4)(b) of Regulation 5 of Annex V, as the date from which the requirements of that Regulation take effect in respect of the area in question, and

(b) publishes on the website of the IMO.