SUBMARINE PIPELINES

Submarine pipelines additional to those charted may exist. Mariners risk prosecution if they anchor or trawl near a pipeline and so damage it. Pipelines are not always buried and may effectively reduce the charted depth by up to 4 metres. Thay may also span seabed undulations and cause fishing gear to become irrecoverably snagged, putting a vessel in severe danger. In Indonesian waters, anchoring, fishing, trawling and any seabed activities are prohibited within 500 metres of a gas pipeline.