Section 1A(49) in The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Oil from Ships) Rules, 2010
(49)"special area", means a sea area where, for recognised technical reasons in relation to its oceanographical and ecological conditions, and to the particular character of its traffic, the adoption of special mandatory methods for the prevention of sea pollution by oil are required and includes special areas specified below, namely:-(i)the Mediterranean Sea area which means the Mediterranean Sea proper including the gulfs and seas therein with the boundary between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea constituted by the 41ºN parallel and bounded to the west by the Straits Gibraltar at the meridian of 5º36'W;(ii)the Baltic Sea area which means the Baltic Sea proper with the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the entrance to the Baltic Sea bounded by the parallel of the Skaw in the Skagerrak at 57º44.8'N;(iii)the Black Sea area which means the Black Sea proper with the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea constituted by the parallel 41ºN;(iv)the Red Sea area which means the Red Sea proper including the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba bounded at the south by the rhumb line between Ras si Ane (12º28.5' N, 43º19.6' E) and Husn Murad (12º40.4' N, 43º30.2' E);(v)the Gulfs area which means the sea area located north-west of the rhumb line between Ras al Hadd (22º 30'N, 59º48' E) and Ras al Fasteh(25º04'N,61 º25' E);(vi)the Gulf of Aden area which means that part of the Gulf of Aden between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea bounded to the west by the rhumb line between Ras si Ane (12º28.5' N, 43º19.6' E) and Husn Murad (12º40.4' N, 43º30.2' E) and to the east by the rhumb line between Ras Asir (11º50' N, 51º16.9' E) and the Ras Fartak (15º35'N, 52º13.8' E);(vii)the Antarctic area which means the sea area south of latitude 60ºS; and(viii)the North West European waters include 'the North Sea and its approaches, the Irish Sea and its approaches, the Celtic Sea, the' English Channel and its approaches and part of the North East Atlantic immediately to the west of Ireland and is bounded by lines joining the following points - '
