3.1 The marine and shore environment of the Belgian,
French, Irish, Portuguese, Spanish and United Kingdom coasts, the
English Channel and its approaches are particularly vulnerable to
the risks induced by the carriage of goods by sea.
3.2 This area constitutes one of the most significant
sea routes on an international scale, because of the number of ships
and of the quantities of dangerous or polluting goods transported:
25% of the world commercial traffic converge towards the English Channel.
It constitutes the main area of maritime transit of commercial flows
with destination to the great industrial areas and harbours of Northern
Europe.
3.3 There is also significant cross channel commercial
traffic between Ireland and the United Kingdom, between Ireland, the
United Kingdom and the mainland of Europe, and North European traffic
bound for Western Atlantic Ports.
3.4 A detailed description of the characteristics
of the maritime traffic, the transport of harmful substances, and
the threats from disasters, including a description of the meteorological,
oceanographical and geographical conditions may be found in documents
MEPC 49/8/1 together with MEPC 49/8/1 Add.1 and MEPC 49/8/1 Corr.1.