Open Government Licence (OGL)

The UK continental shelf is subdivided into eight areas for the purposes of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).

SEA is the process of appraisal through which environmental protection and sustainable development may be considered, and factored into national and local decisions regarding Government (and other) plans and programmes – such as oil and gas licensing rounds and other offshore energy developments, including renewables and gas and carbon dioxide storage.

A point shapefile depicting locations of ship-to-ship hydrocarbon cargo transfers at Nigg (Cromarty Firth), Scapa Flow (Orkney) and Sullom Voe (Shetland) authorised by Shetland Islands Council, Orkney Islands Council and Cromarty Firth Port Authority.

This dataset contains information on coastal facilities utilised by the hydrocarbons industry. The locations of refineries, terminals (pipelines) and decommissioning yards as well as their names are recorded.

Ports are a key part of the maritime infrastructure, providing the transport infrastructure between land and sea. Ports are critical in the effective movement of cargo and people especially in the context of today’s global economy and ever increasing demands of the customer. The 11 major ports are defined by Department for Transport (DfT) as regularly handling over 1M tonnes per year.

Ports and harbours are shown were a location is a statutory harbour authority, recorded on the UN LOCODE list, recorded on the World Port Index, or recorded on NaPTAN as a ferry terminal. Additional harbours may be shown where the operators demonstrated the importance of a harbour.