Identification
- Title
- Focus Area for Policy SAF_01b for Shipping
- Abstract
This layer shows the focus area (i.e. the areas which are most significant for sector activity) for policy SAF_01b for shipping activity, refered to in the Marine planning technical statement: safeguarding policy for ports and shipping.
The focus area is derived from data on vessel movement density and areas relating to shipping activity, outside of Statutory Harbour Authority (SHA) boundaries. Data on shipping density was extracted from Automatic Information System (AIS) data. The focus area is based on a threshold of at least 600 vessel transits per 1km2 hexagonal cell per annum. Although below the threshold, the route from Milford Haven to Falmouth was also included in the focus area.
Small, isolated areas (< 1km2) of apparent shipping activity were removed from the focus area. As SHAs are safeguarded under SAF_01a, shipping activity within SHA boundaries was also removed from the focus area.
Data on shipping-related area was derived from UK Hydrographic Office, OceanWise and Natural Resource Wales datasets, and includes anchorages, pilot boarding areas, navigation dredging areas, and traffic separation schemes.
Attribution statement
© British Crown and OceanWise, 2026. All rights reserved. License No. EK001-20120402. Not to be used for Navigation.
Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UKHO.
Contains Natural Resources Wales information © Natural Resources Wales and Database Right. All rights Reserved.
© Marine Management Organisation copyright and/or database right 2023. All rights reserved.
Data sources
Oceanwise, UKHO, Natural Resources Wales & Marine Management Organisation
Access to OWS endpoints is restricted in accordance with OceanWise terms and conditions
- Licence
- Varied / Derived
-
Copyright:
- Publication date
- 16 July 2026
- Type
- Spatial data
- Category:
- Oceans
- Regions
- Global
- Approved
- Yes
- Published
- Yes
- Featured
- No
- Group
- Marine & Fisheries
Information
- Spatial extent
- Projection system
- EPSG:27700
- Extension x0
- 117715.9296875
- Extension x1
- 332721.15625
- Extension y0
- 129602.171875
- Extension y1
- 453182.65625
Features
- Restrictions
- Spatial Representation Type
- Vector data is used to represent geographic data
Contact
- data@gov.wales
- Organisation
- Welsh Government
- Department
- Marine & Fisheries
References
- Link online
- /layers/geonode:focus_area_shipping
- Metadata page
- /layers/geonode:focus_area_shipping/metadata_detail