The baselines for the Bahamas can be found in the Archipelagic Waters and Maritime Jurisdiction (Archipelagic Baselines) Order, 2008 Ch.282 (S.I. 107/2008)1. Based on UNCLOS’s Article 46, the Bahamas is an archipelagic state, meaning that it has specific archipelagic baselines drawn to enclose its archipelagic waters.
These Bahamas’ baselines constitute the outer limits of the archipelagic waters and the inner limits of the territorial sea.
Generally, being an archipelago means that the Bahamas is made up of a group of islands, including interconnecting waters and other natural features which are so closely interrelated that such islands, waters and other natural features form an intrinsic geographical, economic and political entity, or which historically have been regarded as such.
Consequently, any discharge that is permitted in MARPOL should take place in specific water areas in the Bahamas. It is the archipelagic baselines that all of the other maritime zones, as the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf are measured from.
Specifically, the ‘from the nearest land’ term that is used in MARPOL, in this case means ‘from the archipelagic baselines’ which encloses archipelagic waters.
So, any discharge that is permitted in MARPOL beyond a specified distance ‘from the nearest land’ is the distance from the outside of the base line; outside the red line shown in the picture below.
All Parties are requested to note the above, and comply with the same, when conducting any type of discharge within the waters of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
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