Compulsory way
A fairway , the use of which is compulsory, is called a compulsory route. Compulsory routes are set up in times of war to protect their own shipping . After the Second World War , routes cleared from sea mines were prescribed as compulsory routes that merchant ships had to use for their own safety.
In addition to binding compulsory routes, shipping routes can be recommended for safety reasons, such as the International Recommended Transit Corridor for protection against piracy off the coast of Somalia . NATO uses the Allied Worldwide Navigation Information System (AWNIS) for such recommendations to shipping .
In nautical colloquial language, the directional zones of the traffic separation areas are sometimes referred to as compulsory routes.
Compulsory routes in wars and armed conflicts
In war, compulsory routes can be established that are kept clear of foreign mines. Gaps are left along these paths in their own minefields. These compulsory routes are kept secret so that the opponent cannot use these loopholes. Such constrained paths can form a planned system of paths. A distinction was made between main compulsory routes, the main connection between military bases, coastal compulsory routes in the vicinity of a coastline, reserve compulsory routes only for use in a special command situation, secondary compulsory routes and pseudo compulsory routes to deceive the enemy.
Compulsory routes after the Second World War
After the Second World War, shipping was endangered to a considerable extent by a very large number of sea mines and suffered heavy losses. While the London-based International Mine Clearance Board coordinated the mine clearance, the International Routeing and Reporting Authority (IRRA) established at the same location issued route instructions to shipping, including the North European and Mediterranean Route Instructions (Nemedri) applicable in Europe . The routes specified in it were implemented by national shipping authorities in their area and issued in the form of messages for seafarers and special publications.
The German Hydrographic Institute published the instructions as supplements for the sea handbooks for the North and Baltic Seas. They contained route information and rules of conduct. It stipulated that a skipper would be held responsible if, in the event of a mine accident, he could be shown that he had not carefully followed the instructions on areas at risk of mines and compulsory routes. The trawling near the compulsorily was forbidden to prevent are trafficked with the networks mines in the area of being searched routes. Further instructions related to demagnetization and the use of acoustic protection devices.
The compulsory routes also existed as general shipping routes in the mine-prone areas of the Baltic and North Sea until twenty years after the end of the Second World War. In many cases, they have been integrated into the current shipping routes, deep water routes, controls and systems of today's traffic separation.
literature
- German Hydrographic Institute (ed.). Danger of mines and compulsory routes in the eastern North Sea . Supplement I to the North Sea Manual, Eastern Part, 11th edition 1949. Hamburg 1949
- K. Schwitalla, U. Scharnow: Lexicon of seafaring . various years, transpress VEB Verlag für Verkehrwesen Berlin, ISBN 3-344-00190-6 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Project Sea War of the Württemberg State Library: Overview of ship losses through mines in European waters from 1945 - 1957
- ↑ a b German Hydrographic Institute (ed.). Danger of mines and compulsory routes in the eastern North Sea . Supplement I to the North Sea Manual, Eastern Part, 11th edition 1949. Hamburg 1949
Remarks
- ↑ This system is described by K. Schwitalla, U. Scharnow ( Lexikon der Seefahrt . Various volumes, transpress VEB Verlag für Verkehrwesen Berlin, ISBN 3-344-00190-6 ) and corresponded to the practice envisaged in the GDR