Compulsory Pilotage in International Straits: The Torres Strait PSSA Proposal

Author: Roberts, Julian

Source: Ocean Development and International Law, Volume 37, Number 1, Number 1/January-March 2006 , pp. 93-112(20)

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Abstract:

At a time when the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) concept is under intense scrutiny by IMO member states, Australia and Papua New Guinea jointly proposed an extension to the existing Great Barrier Reef PSSA to include the waters of the Torres Strait. As a measure to protect this PSSA, a compulsory pilotage regime was proposed for adoption by the IMO. This article analyzes the Torres Strait proposal and, in particular, the reaction by many IMO member states to the proposal for compulsory pilotage in a strait used for international navigation. Consideration is given to the legal basis for such a measure and the options available to the proposing states to implement a pilotage regime in the Torres Strait.

Keywords: IMO; Law of the Sea Convention; Particularly Sensitive Sea Area; straits

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00908320500474049

Affiliations: 1: Centre for Maritime Policy University of Wollongong, Wellington, Australia

Publication date: 2006-01-01