EMSA boosts ship pollution response

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

29 Nov 2007

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has finalized contracts to strengthen its pollution response coverage in the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions. EMSA, tasked with assisting EU member states in their response to pollution from ships, has to date set in place a network of pollution response vessels in the Baltic, Atlantic and Mediterranean regions following two rounds of calls for proposals. These vessels have the capability to carry out normal operations and to convert, at short notice, into pollution response vessels and set sail in response to member state requirements.  Vessels in the scheme must also participate in crew training and annual drills. A total of seven vessels, all oil products tankers, have been contracted during this third and latest round of vessel contracting. UK shipowner James Fisher Everard will provide a pollution response arrangement based on a pool of three vessels normally trading between the UK and Ireland. Spain's Mureloil will provide a pool of two vessels which operate in southern Spain. Malta's Tankship Management has will add a vessel to an already established arrangement in the central Mediterranean Sea.Greek company Environmental Protection Engineering will provide a vessel based in southern Greece. All vessels will be equipped during the first half of 2008 and will become operational as pollution response vessels by mid 2008, EMSA said. "Now that we have this third set of vessels contracted, EMSA is in a much improved position to provide 'top-up' response vessels relatively quickly should pollution disasters occur in the future," said EMSA executive director Willem de Ruiter. "We now have a number of vessels, including back-ups, throughout the Baltic, Atlantic and Mediterranean areas.  This means that the network is nearing completion," he said. "Next year, we will have to close any remaining loopholes, including the Black Sea.  We are looking into the best way of doing this at the present time," he added.Several of the vessels that have previously joined the EMSA Oil Spill Response programme are bunker tankers.