Why surveillance is needed

By international law, any release of oily wastes or oily water from ships is prohibited in the Baltic Sea, where oil pollution can affect sensitive ecosystems for long periods. But ships persist in making illegal discharges, despite improvements in port reception facilities, and a harbour fee system which means there is no financial gain to be had from polluting the sea. Every year national surveillance aircraft detect several hundred illegal oil discharges in the Baltic Sea. The actual number of illegal discharges is probably much higher than this. In fact, during most years more oil is released on purpose around the Baltic Sea than is spilled accidentally.

Internationally co-ordinated surveillance flights

The HELCOM States endeavour to fly - as a minimum - twice per week over regular traffic zones including approaches to major sea ports as well as in regions with regular offshore activities and once per week over the regions with sporadic traffic and fishing activities.

Twice a year, several Baltic Sea states jointly organize surveillance flights (24 to 36-hours) - one covering the southern part of the Baltic Sea, and another flight over waters further north. HELCOM facilitates these CEPCO flights (Co-ordinated Extended Pollution Control Operation) in order to:

- assess the amounts of oil being discharged into the Baltic Sea

- give aircrafts and crews of different nationalities experience working together, which could be valuable in the event of a major accident

- find illegal spills of oil or other substances and possibly identify the polluting ships

- in 2009, a Super CEPCO operation, which lasted for six days, was organized for the first time in the Baltic Sea involving aircrats from a number of HELCOM countries and countries outside the Baltic Sea.

Surveillance equipment 

Side Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) are the most important tools for detecting illegal oil discharges at sea. They can detect oil slicks up to 30 kilometres away on either side of the aircraft. Oil dampens surface waves, reducing reflection from the surface, and slicks consequently show up as darker areas on the SLAR monitor in surveillance aircraft.

Forward Looking Infra Red Cameras (FLIR Camera) are used to gather evidence of on-going illegal discharges. FLIR Cameras can precisely measure surface temperature differences - between clean surface water and any oil being discharged from a ship, for instance.

Infrared/ultraviolet scanners (IR/UV Scanners) are typically used to measure the thickness of oil spills, also helping to trace the guilty ship.

Visual detection of oil spills is also still useful. Visible traces of oil on the surface of the sea are a sure sign that international discharge regulations have been violated.

Co-operation with EMSA on satellite surveillance

In addition to the aerial surveillance the Contracting Parties utilize satellite images to detect illegal discharges of oil. Satellite surveillance in the Baltic Sea area has been intensified since 2007 thanks to the CleanSeaNet satellite surveillance service provided to the HELCOM countries by European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

Satellite images can indicate ‘candidates’ for oil spills at sea, which can be later verified on site by a vessel or aircraft.

Altogether, EMSA had provided 608 satellite scenes for the users of CleanSeaNet in the Baltic Sea in 2008 (comparing to 435 in 2007), indicating 413 possible detections (313 in 2007). Out of these 46 were confirmed to be oil.

Full reports with maps and statistics on illegal discharges observed during aerial surveillance are available for the following years:

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

	For further information, please refer to the HELCOM Indicator Fact Sheet on illegal oil discharges    Standard Pollution Observation Log and related Completion Guide to be used within HELCOM aerial surveillance