S.I. No. 267/1997:

CONTINENTAL SHELF (PROTECTION OF INSTALLATIONS) (CONNEMARA FIELD) ORDER, 1997

CONTINENTAL SHELF (PROTECTION OF INSTALLATIONS) (CONNEMARA FIELD) ORDER, 1997

I, EMMET STAGG, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 6 (1) of the Continental Shelf Act, 1968 (No. 14 of 1968), as amended by section 5 of the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1995 (No. 35 of 1995), the Tourism and Trade (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1993 ( S.I. No. 422 of 1993 ) (as adapted by the Tourism, Transport and Communications (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1993 ( S.I. No. 17 of 1993 ) ) and the Transport, Energy and Communications (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order, 1996 ( S.I. No. 395 of 1996 ), and after consultation with the Minister for the Marine, hereby, for the purpose of protecting certain installations in the area standing designated by the Continental Shelf (Designated Areas) Order, 1993 ( S.I. No. 92 of 1993 ), order as follows:

1. (1) This Order may be cited as the Continental Shelf (Protection of Installations) (Connemara Field) Order, 1997.

(2) This order shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1997.

2. In this Order "the Minister" means the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications.

3. Subject to Article 4 of this Order, ships are hereby prohibited from entering the area specified in the Schedule to this Order without the consent of the Minister.

4. Article 3 of this Order shall not apply in relation to--

( a ) ships providing any services for the purposes of the work programme specified in the Lease Undertaking made on the 17th day of January, 1995, between the Minister and Aran Servicing Limited, being services requested by the holder of that Lease Undertaking,

( b ) ships in distress or carrying out movements with a view to saving or attempting to save life or property or entering the area specified in the Schedule to this Order owing to stress of weather, or

( c ) ships belonging to, or employed in the service of, the State and used for defence or fishery protection purposes.

SCHEDULE

1. The area consisting of--

( a ) that part of the area standing designated by the Continental Shelf (Designated Areas) Order, 1993 ( S.I. No. 92 of 1993 ), that is bounded by an imaginary line ("the specified line") each point of which is 500 metres from the nearest point to that point of the installation so positioned that some part of it is at the point ("the specified point") whose co-ordinates are:

53°03'15.75"N latitude and 12°34'26.36"W longitude,

( b ) that part of the area standing designated by the Order aforesaid that is bounded by an imaginary line ("the specified line") each point of which is 500 metres from the nearest point to that point of the installation so positioned that some part of it is not more than 50 metres from the point whose co-ordinates are:

53°04'06.96"N latitude and 12°33'01.84"W longitude,

and

( c ) that part of the area standing designated by the Order aforesaid that is bounded by--

(i) imaginary parallel straight lines ("the parallel lines") each point of which is 100 metres from an imaginary straight line connecting the specified point with the point of the installation referred to in subparagraph (b) of this paragraph to which a pipeline from the installation referred to in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph is attached, and

(ii) those parts of each specified line between the parallel lines.

2. The co-ordinates of latitude and longitude aforesaid are co-ordinates of latitude and longitude on European Datum 1950 (ED 50).

GIVEN under my hand, this 20th day of June, 1997.

EMMET M. STAGG, TD

Minister of State at the Department

of Transport, Energy and

Communications.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order establishes a safety zone around offshore installations attached to the Connemara Field and prohibits ships from entering the zone except with the consent of the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications or in the circumstances provided for in Article 4 of the Order.