A Practical guide to the designation of ship corridors in maritime spatial planning. Work Package 4.4 [Baltic LINes].

Abstract

This practical guide has been developed by the partnership of several planning authorities in course of the Interreg project Baltic LINes. The guide is strongly related and therefore also added as annex to the Baltic LINes report “Identification of transnational planning criteria for energy and shipping in the Baltic Sea”. However, the guide can also be used independently as tool for those maritime spatial planners that are looking for practical advices for the designation of ship corridors in their national sea area – irrespectively if they are from within the Baltic region or an absolutely different part of the world. The guide presents a step-wise approach summarizing the most important topics to address when designating ship corridors for maritime spatial planning (MSP). It should not be seen as the one-andonly way to develop and designate ship corridors in MSP as national planning systems vary greatly and other options may be preferable. Especially when it comes to the project level, e.g. for shipping in the vicinity of offshore wind farms, thorough risk assessments have to be conducted on a case-bycase basis. However, after reviewing different national approaches and discussing the origins of similarities and differences in a profound group of maritime spatial planners from the Baltic, this guide claims to be a good example of how to prepare the first draft of ship corridor designations in MSP for national and international consultation. Although the guide concentrates specifically on the spatial demands of the shipping sector one should not get the impression that this very sector is more important than other sectors. MSP is by definition an approach that aims to balance out different interests by following an ecosystem-based approach. Thus, the shipping sector should not gain more importance than other sectors from a planners’ point of view. However, it does make sense to have a look at the spatial demands of each sector separately to be able to accomplish a solid weighing procedure at a later stage. In fact, the designation of ship corridors is often one of the first steps when drafting a MSP. So a guiding document may help to get the entire MSP process started. In best case the guide will be used by many countries that have common borders. We are convinced that using similar planning approaches in MSP will increase mutual understanding and eventually lead to greater coherence in transnational maritime spatial planning. Coherency in plans is not only a goal of the EU MSP Directive (2014) but also ensures enhanced safety at sea which in turn contributes to better environmental conditions, lower economic costs and last but not least reduces risk for the loss of human life.