Cuban Transport Minister Cesar Arocha said at a parliament session that Cuba lacked of an "updated" marine legislation and was still using obsolete juridical instruments.

　　Arocha said the new bill is the result of 15 years of studies in pusuit of regulating the sailing in the territorial sea, the adjacent areas, the exclusive economic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, the interior waters, rivers, lagoons and reservoirs.

　　The new legislation also specifies issues on marine auxiliary and related services, along with topics concerning to ships, crafts and naval devices dedicated to trade, scientific, tourist, sports and recreational purposes.

　　There are as well articles referred to the abandonment of ships and foreign crafts in Cuban waters, and others related to the prevention and control of the contamination of the marine environment, the official said.

　　Jose Luis Toledo, president of the Parliament Commission for Constitutional and Juridical Affairs, noted that a new legal frame is needed to support the intervention of the authorities and to enhance the safety for sailing and environment as there has been a significant increase of abandoned ships in Cuban port facilities and jurisdictional waters.

　　According to official media, Cuba is currently during the modernization of its economic socialist model. The island state plans to recover the national freighting lines and attract foreign investment in oil exploring in its exclusive economic zone in the Gulf of Mexico.