NAV 44/3/1
ANNEX 2
DRAFT RESOLUTION MSC. [...](70)
adopted on ...November 1998
THE MARITIME SAFETY COMMITTEE,
RECALLING that Regulation V/8-1
of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS), 1972, provides that ship reporting systems
contribute, inter alia, to the protection of the marine
environment,
RECALLING ALSO that the ship
reporting systems that have been adopted to date for
protection of the marine environment have been for the
purpose of preventing marine pollution from ships, not for
purposes of protecting particular marine species from direct
physical impacts with ships, such as collisions,
CONVINCED, however, that ship
reporting systems for the specific purpose of protecting
populations of single marine species from direct physical
impacts of ships, such as collisions, may be warranted if
there is clear scientific evidence that:
-the population of a marine species is
immediately endangered with extinction,
-major shipping routes pass through an
area or areas of habitat critical for the population, and
-the greatest known threat to the
survival and recovery of the population is posed by
direct physical impacts of ships, such as collisions,
AWARE, with respect to the population of
Westem North Atlantic Right Whales, that:
-the species is listed internationally as
endangered on Annex 1 of the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) and in the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature Red Book,
-a group of international scientific
experts, convened by the International Whaling Commission
to evaluate the status of right whales internationally,
has recognized the urgent need for protective measures to
prevent the demise of this population,
-the population size, as assessed by the
group of international scientific experts, is estimated
to have fallen to approximately 300 whales, a level that
poses the threat of its extinction,
-the normal shipping lanes off the east
coast of the United States pass through two areas
identified by the group of international scientific
experts as habitat critical for the survival of the
population,
-the best available scientific
information indicates that collisions with ships are
currently the greatest known non-natural cause of
mortality in the population, and
-a ship reporting system designed to
provide mariners entering the critical habitat areas with
timely notice and other relevant information including
recent sightings, would reduce the potential for
collisions and thereby directly contribute to the
survival and recovery of the species.
CONCLUDES, therefore, that a ship
reporting system limited to the areas defined in the proposal
on the basis of documented, peer-reviewed scientific research
on the distribution and abundance of the population on right
whales is justified in light of the exceptional circumstances
described above,
ADOPTS, in accordance with SOLAS Regulation
V/8-1, the attached ship reporting systems:
"Off the Northeastern United
States" and "Off the Southeastern United
States" as described in Annex I to the present
resolution.
I:/NAV/44/3-1.WPD
