MARPOL SPECIAL AREA

Special area means a sea area where for recognized technical reasons in relation to its
oceanographical and ecological condition and to the particular character of its traffic the adoption
of special mandatory methods for the prevention of sea pollution by oil is required.
For the purposes of this Annex, the special areas are defined as follows:

.1 the Mediterranean Sea area 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 of 005°36' W;

.2 the Baltic Sea area 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;

.3 the Black Sea area means the Black Sea proper with the boundary between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea constituted by the parallel 41° N;

.4 the Red Sea area 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,
043°19.6' E) and Husn Murad (12°40.4' N, 043°30.2' E);

.5 the Gulfs area means the sea area located north-west of the rhumb line between
Ras al Hadd (22°30' N, 059°48' E) and Ras al Fasteh (25°04' N, 061° 25' E);

.6 the Gulf of Aden area means that part of the Gulf of Aden between the Red Sea
and the Arabian Sea bounded to the west by the rhumb line between Ras si Ane
(12°28.5'N, 043°19.6' E) and Husn Murad (12°40.4' N, 043°30.2' E) and to the
east by the rhumb line between Ras Asir (11°50' N, 051°16.9' E) and the Ras
Fartak (15°35' N, 052°13.8' E);

.7 the Antarctic area means the sea area south of latitude 60°S; and

.8 the North West European waters include the North Sea and its approaches, the
Irish Sea and its approaches, the Celtic Sea, the English Channel and its
approaches and part of the North East Atlantic immediately to the west of Ireland.
The area is bounded by lines joining the following points:
48° 27' N on the French coast
48° 27' N; 006° 25' W
49° 52' N; 007° 44’ W
50° 30' N; 012° W
56° 30' N; 012° W
62° N; 003° W
62° N on the Norwegian coast
57° 44.8' N on the Danish and Swedish coasts

.9 the Oman area of the Arabian Sea means the sea area enclosed by the following
coordinates:
22° 30.00' N; 059° 48.00' E
23° 47.27' N; 060° 35.73' E
22° 40.62' N; 062° 25.29' E
21° 47.40' N; 063° 22.22' E
20° 30.37' N; 062° 52.41' E
19° 45.90' N; 062° 25.97' E
18° 49.92' N; 062° 02.94' E
17° 44.36' N; 061° 05.53' E
16° 43.71' N; 060° 25.62' E
16° 03.90' N; 059° 32.24' E
15° 15.20' N; 058° 58.52' E
14° 36.93' N; 058° 10.23' E
14° 18.93' N; 057° 27.03' E
14° 11.53' N; 056° 53.75' E
13° 53.80' N; 056° 19.24' E
13° 45.86' N; 055° 54.53' E
14° 27.38' N; 054° 51.42' E
14° 40.10' N; 054° 27.35'E
14° 46.21' N; 054° 08.56' E
15° 20.74' N; 053° 38.33' E
15° 48.69' N; 053° 32.07' E
16° 23.02' N; 053° 14.82' E
16° 39.06' N; 053° 06.52' E