Finland to exert influence for greater EU-funded oil spill response capability in Baltic Sea
Press release by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom and the Finnish Border Guard:
The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) helps EU Member States prepare for oil spills. Finland is urging the EMSA to spread its network of stand-by oil spill response vessels more evenly across European waters with due regard to the risks of the marine operating environments.
Finland wants the EMSA to launch a procurement procedure to contract a stand-by oil spill response vessel that is capable of navigating in ice and suited to conditions in the northern parts of the Baltic Sea.
The EMSA’s network of oil spill response vessels has 14 vessels at the moment. Only one of them is stationed in the southern parts of the Baltic Sea despite recent years seeing a higher risk of oil spills especially in the Gulf of Finland. Finland feels that the EMSA should contract a new vessel for the northern parts of the Baltic Sea in addition to the existing vessel stationed in the southern parts.
The risk of oil spills in the Baltic Sea and especially in the Gulf of Finland has grown as international sanctions have forced Russia to transport its oil with older vessels and weaker insurance coverage. Winter conditions exacerbate the risks and the older vessels carrying Russian crude oil may be poorly equipped and not suited to ice conditions. Recovery of oil spilled in ice conditions is more demanding and expensive than in open-water spills.
The EMSA Administrative Board will convene in Lisbon, Portugal, on 5–6 June 2024. Finland, Sweden and Estonia will organise a side event to the meeting explaining the demands of the operating environment in the Baltic Sea and the conditions for oil spill response in the northern parts of the Baltic Sea. Their objective is to increase awareness among the EMSA and EU Member States of the risks associated with oil spills in the region and induce them to allocate more EU funds to the northern parts of the Baltic Sea.
In addition, Päivi Antikainen, Director of the Climate and Environment Unit at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, will meet management of the EMSA and the Portuguese Maritime Administration.
What’s next?
Finland’s objective is that the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) launch procurement processes in 2024–2026 to contract EU-funded oil spill response capabilities for the Baltic Sea that are also suited to the conditions in the northern parts of the Baltic Sea.
In addition, the EU is currently discussing amendments to the EMSA Founding Regulation. One of the proposed amendments would assign the EMSA an obligation to assess the risks of environmental hazards in all EU waters. This assessment would then be used to determine the placement of the EMSA’s stand-by vessels.
More information:
European Maritime Safety Agency: Network of stand-by oil spill response vessels
