PSSAs and Transit Passage - Australia's Pilotage System in the Torres Strait Challenges the IMO and UNCLOS
On 22 July 2005, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved the extension of the Great Barrier Reef Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) to the Torres Strait in Resolution MEPC.133(53). Australia amended its regulations and issued marine orders imposing a compulsory pilotage system in the Torres Strait. Australia's actions triggered protests from maritime states at the IMO and in bilateral diplomatic exchanges. This article examines the legal issues raised by Australia's establishment of a compulsory pilotage system in a strait used for international navigation, including the prospects for Australia being challenged under the compulsory dispute settlement provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is recommended that the PSSA Guidelines of the IMO be amended to ensure that such legal issues do not arise in the future.
Keywords: Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs); compulsory pilotage; international straits; transit passage
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Publication date: 01 October 2007
- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content