THE ASSEMBLY,
RECALLING Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Assembly in relation to regulations and guidelines concerning maritime safety and the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships,
RECALLING ALSO resolution A.858(20) by which the Assembly, recognizing the need for an expeditious adoption and amendment procedure for traffic separation schemes, routeing measures other than traffic separation schemes, including the designation and substitution of archipelagic sea lanes, and ship reporting systems, resolved that all the aforementioned functions shall be performed by the Maritime Safety Committee on behalf of the Organization,
RECALLING FURTHER that the Galapagos Archipelago and its surrounding waters have been declared a national and world heritage site, recognized worldwide for its scientific and cultural importance,
NOTING the urgent necessity and importance of implementing the new Area to be Avoided in the Galapagos Archipelago proposed by the Government of Ecuador in order to enhance maritime safety, safety of navigation and protection of the marine environment in the area concerned, and the invitation by the Maritime Safety Committee at its eightieth session to the Assembly to adopt the proposed new Area to be Avoided, subject to the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation being satisfied that all the pertinent criteria had been met,
NOTING ALSO the urgent need to safeguard the unique ecological system in the Galapagos Archipelago,
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Guidelines for the Identification and Designation of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas adopted by resolution A.927(22),
HAVING NOTED the designation by the Marine Environment Protection Committee, by resolution MEPC.135(53), of the Galapagos Archipelago as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) including the establishment of an Associated Protective Measure (APM),
HAVING CONSIDERED the report of the Maritime Safety Committee at its eightieth session and the recommendations of the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation at its fifty-first session,
- ADOPTS the new Area to be Avoided in the Galapagos Archipelago, as set out in the annex to the present resolution, for implementation at 0000 hours UTC on 1 July 2006;
- DECIDES that the ships' routeing system adopted in operative paragraph 1 should be considered as the Associated Protective Measure (APM) for the Galapagos Archipelago;
- REQUESTS the Secretariat to issue, as soon as possible, an SN circular containing the aforementioned Area to be Avoided.