International Co-operation to Improve Safety of Navigation in the Southern Red Sea

摘要

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, under the umbrella of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation, with the assistance of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, a plan to conserve the environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden was put in place. Improvement of safety of navigation in the southern Red Sea was considered to be of prime importance as a significant percentage of world shipping used these poorly charted waters on passage to and from the Suez Canal. Although, there had never been a large-scale pollution incident caused by a navigational error, studies have shown that it was a statistical probability and the potential damage to this unique, biodiverse ecosystem would be catastrophic.