Citation, commencement, and extent

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Offshore Installations (Safety Zones) Order 2022.

(2) This Order comes into force on 1st March 2022.

(3) This Order extends to England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Establishment of safety zone

2.  A safety zone is established around the installation specified in column 1 of the table in the Schedule (being an installation stationed in waters to which subsection (7) of section 21 of the Petroleum Act 1987 applies) having a radius of five hundred meters, as respects that installation, from the point which has the co-ordinates of latitude and longitude according to the World Geodetic System 1984( 3) specified in columns 2 and 3 of the table in the Schedule.

Amendment of the Offshore Installations (Safety Zones) (No.2) Order 2019

3.—(1) The Offshore Installations (Safety Zones) (No. 2) Order 2019( 4) is amended as follows.

(2) In Part 2 of the Schedule to the Offshore Installations (Safety Zones) (No. 2) Order 2019, omit the entry relating to “Well (P41) (SM7C), Block 9/18b, Ballindalloch Field.”

Article 2

SCHEDULE Installation

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

Article 2 of this Order establishes, under section 22 of the Petroleum Act  1987 (c. 12) (“ the Act”), a safety zone having a radius of 500 metres from the specified point around the installation (which is a subsea installation) specified in the Schedule to this Order, stationed in waters to which section 21(7) of that Act applies (these include territorial waters and waters in areas designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act  1964 (c. 29)).

Section 23(1) of the Act prohibits vessels, which for these purposes include hovercraft, submersible apparatus and installations in transit, from entering or remaining in a safety zone except with the consent of the Health and Safety Executive or in accordance with regulations made under section 23(1) of the Act (currently regulation 21H of the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995 ( S.I. 1995/738), inserted by paragraph 14 of Schedule 13 to  S.I. 2015/398).

The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) publishes nautical charts covering the area in which installations are located, which include information on the existence and, where the scale allows, the location of safety zones (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-hydrographic-office). Mariners are advised to keep paper charts up-to-date by using appropriate Notices to Mariners or, where electronic charts are used, to subscribe to an appropriate updating service. Vessels meeting the requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 will carry nautical charts and nautical publications (such as Notices to Mariners) to plan and display the ship’s route for the intended voyage and to plot and monitor positions throughout the voyage. This may be compulsory for some vessels, for example under the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2020 ( S.I. 2020/673). The UKHO also broadcasts Radio Navigational Warnings in relation to safety zones where updates to charts have yet to take effect and where installations are in transit.

Maritime safety information, which includes information on safety zones, is issued via the appropriate International Maritime Organisation, Global Maritime Distress and Safety System broadcast systems as defined by the World-Wide Navigational Warning Service.

Article 3 amends the Offshore Installations (Safety Zones) (No. 2) Order 2019 ( S.I. 2019/116) to omit, from Part 2 of the Schedule to that Order, the reference to Well (P41)(SM7C).

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.