Belgium, France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom decided earlier this year to present the IMO with a joint request to designate certain maritime areas as particularly sensitive sea areas, or PSSAs, to strengthen its protection of especially vulnerable areas. The limit of the PSSAs proposed coincides with the 15th meridian, the Porcupine Bank, and includes parts of the special waters of the north-west Europe zone, as defined under the MARPOL Convention, the English Channel and the coastal waters in certain parts of pollution response areas, and the exclusive economic zones along the Spanish, French and Portuguese coasts. The aim of the exercise is to protect our marine environment and coastline from oil spills by discouraging vessels from entering the PSSA. It is proposed to ban certain tankers. For example, single-hulled and some double-hulled tankers would have to state their intention to cross the area 48 hours in advance.