Citation and Commencement

1. This order may be cited as the Offshore Installations (Safety Zones) Order 1997 and shall come into force on 31st March 1997.

Establishment of safety zones

2. A safety zone is hereby established around each installation specified in column 1 of Schedule 1 hereto (being an installation stationed in waters to which subsection (7) of section 21 of the Act applies) having a radius of five hundred metres from the point as respects that installation which has the co-ordinates of latitude and longitude according to European Datum (1950) specified in columns 2 and 3 of that Schedule.

Revocation of orders

3. The orders listed in Schedule 2 hereto are revoked.

Article 2

SCHEDULE 1SAFETY ZONES

Article 3

SCHEDULE 2REVOCATIONS

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the order)

This order establishes, under section 22 of the Petroleum Act 1987, safety zones having a radius of 500 metres from the specified point, around each installation specified in Schedule 1 to this order and 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)).

Vessels (which for this purpose include hovercraft, submersible apparatus and installations in transit) are prohibited 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 the Offshore Installations (Safety Zones) Regulations 1987 (S.I. 1987/1331)).

The order revokes the orders listed in Schedule 2 which had previously established safety zones around all the installations specified in Schedule 1, except the new ones now established around Curlew B-Wellhead, Curlew D-Wellhead and Gannet F-Manifold, and had established twenty-four other safety zones, no longer required, around other installations.