ANCHORING AND TRAWLING PROHIBITED

Ships are prohibited from anchoring and trawling in the area marked by T -shaped dashed lines due to the existance of oil and gas pipelines carrying inflammable material under high pressure and submarine cable of high voltage. Any ship damaging them could face an immediate hazard. Mariners are strongly advised not to anchor or trawl in the vicinity of pipelines and submarine cable.
See the following Notices to Mariners Special Edition Notice No. 13. 



			Special Notice No.13: SUBMARINE CABLES
		     Source: www.cableawareness.info, www.iscpc.org 


1.	Damage to Submarine Cable.	Modern high capacity repeated type submarine cables now cross the oceans and major seas of the world. Cables of increasing capacity are being designed and will continue to be laid for many years to come. Towing of fishing gears, anchoring close or over the submarine cables and various other activities on the seabed could very easily damage a cable and cause major interruption to global communications with very serious consequences.

2.	Avoid Cables From Damage.	Considering the possibility of positioning inaccuracies and repaired cables section deviations, the fishing community are advised to keep towed gear a minimum distance of one nautical mile from either side of charted cables. For safe navigation and the avoidance of vital submarine cables, the most recent charts should always be available on the fishing vessel. The submarine cables are clearly identified on all charts used for navigation in the Atlantic. The international symbol for an active submarine cable is a wavy line coloured magenta or black. In general the accuracy with which cables are laid varies inversely to the distance from land Navigation on cable ships is of a high standard but is limited to the techniques available when the cable was installed. Cables laid in the early 1970s, before satellite navigation became commonplace could be up to one nautical mile (nm) out of charted position. With the use of satellites and other sophisticated navigational electronic aids, the positional accuracy of recently-laid cables is usually better than 0.5 nm. However despite this high accuracy during laying, the cable may now be re-laid away from the original charted position due to cable repairs having been required subsequent to the original cable lay.

3.	Caution against Anchoring and Trawling in vicinity.

1.	Cautionary Note or the legend “Submarine Cable Area” appears on many charts, calling the attention of the mariners to the areas in which there are submarine cables.

2.	Every care should be taken to avoid anchoring and trawling in such areas even through there may be no specific prohibition against doing so, in view of the serious interference with communications which results from damage to submarine cables.

3.	Equal care should be taken wherever the symbols for submarine cables are shown on the chart.

4.	Danger Involved in Cutting to Clear Anchors or Fishing Gear.	In the event of any vessel fouling a submarine cable, every effort should be made to clear the anchor or gear by normal methods without causing damage. If these efforts fail, the anchor or gear should be slipped and abandoned without attempting to cut the cable. Very high voltage are fed into certain submarine cables and serious risk of loss of life exists due to electric shock, or at least of severe burns, if any attempt to cut the cable is made. Particular care should be exercised should a vessel’s trawl/fishing gear foul and raise it from seabed. This may lead to a capsize situation due to the excessive load. No claim in respect of injury or damage sustained through such interference with a submarine cable would be entertained by the owners of cable.
5.	Action Taken When Suspected Foul of a Submarine Cable.       
	(a)	If weights are excessive and you suspect you are fast to a cable, DO NOT endanger your vessel 	and crew by attempting to recover your gear. 
	(b)	Carefully plot your ship's position as accurately as possible, checking for any cables that may be 	close to your position. 
	(c)	Advise your ICG station of your situation OR if your ICG is not obtainable call the 	emergency number of the cable maintenance company concerned and state that an incident is occurring concerning an underwater or Submarine Telecommunications cable.
6.	(a)	Charts showing cables positions are available from many Hydrographic Offices and the universal 	charting of cables has been endorsed by International Hydrographic Organisation.
	(b)	For more information on submarine cables, including related and regulations and charting policy, refer to the Mariners Handbook (BA NP 100, 8th edition). Further information can be found on the website of the International Cable Protection Committee at www.iscpc.org.
