Europe Tightens on Vessels Polluting Oceans

Europe Tightens on Vessels Polluting Oceans

March 2007 - Starting April 1, 
the 27 member states of the European Union will display their 
common determination to tackle unlawful discharges of 
polluting substances at sea as legislation adopted in 2005 is 
implemented. 
Illicit discharges at sea are still occurring and preventing 
them is now more than ever a priority for Europe, the European 
Commission said today. 
"We must get tough on illegal discharges and gross negligence 
must be fought at all cost: the threat of criminal penalties 
hanging over polluters' heads will help to protect our coasts. 

"We cannot tolerate deliberate pollution or gross negligence 
by a minority of operators who tarnish the image of the 
shipping industry," said Jacques Barrot, the commission's vice 
president in charge of transport. 
European Commission Vice President in charge of transport 
Jacques Barrot 
The law, Directive 2005/35, on ship-source pollution and the 
introduction of penalties for infringements is intended, in 
line with international law, to impose penalties on any party 
found to have caused or contributed to illegal pollution 
deliberately or as a result of gross negligence. 
Vessel masters, owners, charterers, and ship classification 
societies all must abide by the directive. 
The directive applies to discharges in all sea areas, 
including on the high seas, and it applies to all ships 
calling at EU ports, whatever flag they fly. 
The law provides for cooperation between Port State 
Authorities to enable action to be taken at a violating 
vessel's next port of call. 
On March 1, Directive 2005/35 on sanctions for ship source 
pollution and on the introduction of penalties for 
infringements came into force. 
The EU member states are obliged to incorporate this law into 
their national laws by March 31, 2007. 
The commission said today it will "leave no stone unturned to 
ensure that it is implemented." 
To see how many ships entering European ports were violating 
existing international laws on discharging pollution at sea, 
the 25 Maritime Authorities of the Paris Memorandum of 
Understanding on Port State Control carried out a concentrated 
inspection campaign last year. 
The inspections were conducted between February 1 and April 
30, 2006. During the three month campaign, 4,616 ships were 
inspected, and 128 ships were detained for serious 
deficiencies. 
These ships were found to be in violation of regulations in 
the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution 
From Ships, MARPOL. 
On 86 ships, illegal overboard connections of sludge tanks 
were found so that sludge could be discharged directly into 
the sea. 
The directive is also designed to enhance cooperation between 
member states to detect illegal discharges and develop methods 
to identify a discharge as originating from a particular ship. 

The tanker Dutch Engineer, used to transport oil or chemicals, 
is docked near the mouth of England's Tees River. 
The European Maritime Safety Agency, EMSA, will assist the 
commission and member states in this task. 
In respose to a request from the European Commission, EMSA 
prepared a preliminary discussion paper on measures for 
implementation and organized a workshop on March 22 and 23. At 
the workshop, representatives of EU member states exchanged 
experiences and discussed the development of implementing 
measures. 
To handle the expansion of its pollution monitoring task, the 
EMSA has set up a new unit to deal with these issues. From 
April 1, EMSA’s pollution related activities will be split 
between the Oil Pollution Response unit and the Pollution 
Preparedness and Detection unit. 
The Oil Pollution Response unit will focus on contract 
management of oil recovery vessels; research, evaluation and 
innovation; as well as operational activities and fleet 
management. 
The Pollution Preparedness and Detection unit will focus on 
cooperation arrangements, development of satellite monitoring 
services, and satellite monitoring operations. 
An expert user group is being set up to ensure an effective 
interface between the EMSA and the 27 member states. 
The EMSA says the agency is now ready for spill spotting from 
space. The EMSA this month launched its CleanSeaNet system to 
provide EU Member States with processed satellite data for the 
monitoring and detection of illegal discharges and accidental 
oil spills at sea. 
Member states have the responsibility for implementing 
Directive 2005/35/EC, and this service will ensure that they 
will be given the necessary support so that maritime pollution 
monitoring and detection can be done on a wider and more 
sustainable scale, said the EMSA. 
On November 19, 2002 the Prestige sank off the coast of 
Galicia, Spain with a load of 77,000 metric tons of petroleum 
on board. 
CleanSeaNet began operating on on March 20 as the 17th meeting 
of the EMSA Administrative Board took place in Lisbon, 
Portugal. At the meeting, the agency decided to request 
funding of €47 million and 12 additional employees for the 
2008 financial year, and the EMSA now awaits a decision by the 
European Union budgetary authorities. 
Major oil companies majors are going beyond safety 
requirements and seeking oil tankers equipped with high-end 
voyage data recorders in an effort to boost maritime safety 
and track accidents, Sten Warnfeldt, area manager at Rutter 
Technologies told "Shiptalk News" on Monday. Rutter is a 
voyage date recorder developer and manufacturer. 
Between 2007 and 2011, the International Maritime Organization 
will require all ships to be retrofitted with a voyage data 
recorder, similar to a blackbox on an aircraft. 
The devices will record all activities and commands, and 
navigational and radar data on the bridge of a ship during a 
voyage. 
Some oil companies are seeking ships equipped with a 
order-and-response feature in their recorders, which will help 
trace the causes of ship accidents, Warnfeldt said. 
"Oil majors are not taking any chances. They are going beyond 
the industry requirements," he said. 
In addition to increasing maritime safety, the recorders will 
help to protect ships' crews from allegations of improper 
protocols. The high-end data recorders will track any given 
order to its execution and the response from the ship's 
equipment. 





 

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