Saving the whales could end up causing ships to collide. A battle is brewing.

In ship-versus-whale encounters, the whales invariably lose, but score one for the whales this time.

The International Maritime Organization, based in London, is expected to vote later this week to shift the busy shipping lanes off Massachusetts up to 10 miles north and to narrow them by a mile to reduce collisions with whales, the first time such a detour would be directed in US waters to protect an endangered species.

The move, government scientists say, will reduce the risk of ships striking North Atlantic right whales by up to 60 percent and the risk of striking other large baleen whales by as much as 81 percent.

“This makes it more possible for whales and ships to coexist,” said David Wiley, research coordinator for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, who came up with the idea.

Three years ago, the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, shifted shipping lanes in Canada’s Bay of Fundy 4 miles east to protect right whales, the first time that a world shipping lane was altered to protect an endangered species.

Anything managed by the UN fails…just because it’s the UN.

The US government has been trying to do the same for several years and has documented the vast number of right whales and other large whales that feed and frolic in the middle of the current shipping lanes off Massachusetts. Ship strikes, along with fishing gear entanglement, are some of the greatest threats to the world’s remaining 350 North Atlantic right whales.

From February 2004 to April 2005, at least four adult females, three of which were carrying near-term fetuses, were killed by ship strikes along the East Coast.

It is sad. However more whales beach themselves than get caught up in the shipping lanes. Facts are facts.

Redrawing lanes is not simple; changes must be submitted to the International Maritime Organization, which can take more than a year to review requests and make a decision. If the request is approved, the shift will take place in June to ensure there is time to make changes to navigational charts. An International Maritime Organization official said this week that a subcommittee on navigation and safety recommended the change and that such recommendations are usually adopted by the agency.

And it’s expensive…and the IMO doesn’t always come out to check the actual harbors and local waterways to SEE what they are doing. This is how accidents happen.

Not everyone is happy, however. The Massachusetts Port Authority and the Boston Harbor Pilot Association say that the proposed change could cause more ship collisions because it narrows each inbound and outbound lane by a half-mile, leaving each lane 1 mile wide, rather than the traditional two miles. They also say they were never given the opportunity to comment formally on the new design before it was submitted in April to the International Maritime Organization.

“These changes are likely to increase the chance of vessel collisions,” said Gregg Farmer, president of the Boston Harbor Pilot Association. Pilots from the association, commissioned by the state, board large vessels to help direct them safely into and out of Boston Harbor.

They have to consider the opinions of those who KNOW these waters; when they don’t we see ship collisions as well as ship to pier accidents. Not funny when we consider how many fuel ships come to port in Boston these days. There is a potential for a huge tragedy.