Kaliningrad to host a Stakeholder Workshop on improving accident response capability in the south-eastern Baltic

Helsinki, 13 August (HELCOM Information Service) – Representatives of marine pollution response and environmental authorities from Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Russia, as well as from the NGO sector will take part in a Stakeholder Workshop which will be held on 29 August in Kaliningrad to discuss the upcoming implementation of the maritime segment of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan in the south-eastern Baltic. This plan was adopted last year by the Baltic Sea countries and the European Commission - all members of HELCOM - to drastically reduce pollution to the sea and restore its good ecological status by 2021.

“The objective of the Workshop is to provide a local perspective and contribute to the implementation of the maritime segment of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan with a particular focus on improving maritime safety and oil spill response capacity and strengthening of sub-regional co-operation in this field in the south-eastern Baltic,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary.

Another major theme will be the coastal preparedness to oil spills and how to integrate wildlife response into local/regional contingency planning. Additionally, participants will look into ways how to ensure efficient enforcement of compliance with anti-pollution regulations, as well as public involvement in enforcement campaigns.  

The Workshop is arranged in close co-operation between the Government of the Kaliningrad Oblast’, the HELCOM Secretariat, Russia’s Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation and the Nordic Council of Ministers. It is expected that the Workshop, which will be held at the premises of the Kaliningrad Maritime Port Administration, will be opened by Mr. Yuri Shalimov, Vice-Governor and Head of the Emergency Response Commission of the Kaliningrad Oblast’. This is already the second Stakeholder Workshop on the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan in Russia. The first one was held in May in Kaliningrad and focused on issue related to the implementation of the eutrophication and biodiversity segments of the action plan.

The issue of response to accidents at sea has a high priority within the Baltic Sea region. The Baltic Sea’s unusual hydrographic, chemical and physical conditions make its waters extremely sensitive to pollution. Any large-scale oil spill could lead to an environmental catastrophe. The risk of such a spill occurring has increased substantially over the last decade, due to the rising number of cargo ships carrying large amounts of fuel, and the constantly increasing volumes of oil transported on the Baltic. By 2015, a 40% increase is expected in the amounts of oil being shipped on the Baltic, which in 2007 reached more than 170 million tonnes. The use of much bigger tankers is also expected to rise – there will be more tankers in the Baltic carrying 100,000-150,000 tonnes of oil.

The Baltic Sea today is one of the busiest seas in the world, accounting for more than 15% of the world’s cargo transportation. According to the HELCOM Automatic Identification System (AIS) for monitoring maritime traffic, there are about 2,000 ships in the Baltic marine area at any given moment, and each month around 3,500-5,000 ships ply the waters of the Baltic Sea. Approximately 60% of these ships are cargo vessels, and 17% are tankers, and 11% are passenger vessels. There are around 140 shipping accidents and over 200 detected illegal oil discharges recorded annually in the Baltic Sea area. Fortunately, most of the accidents in the Baltic do not cause notable pollution. Over the period 2000-2006, an average of 7% of all reported accidents resulted in some kind of pollution. Two of the five most serious accidents in the Baltic marine area have occurred since 2001 – involving “Baltic Carrier” in 2001 (2,700 tonnes of oil spilt), and “Fu Shan Hai” in 2003 (1,200 tonnes of oil spilt).

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organisation of all the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution. 

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," known as the Helsinki Convention.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)207 412 635

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi