European Maritime Safety Agency CleanSeaNet Activities in the Baltic Sea

The European Maritime Safety Agency has been providing the CleanSeaNet oil spill monitoring and vessel detection service to all Baltic Sea states since 2007. This operational service was set up to support EU and EFTA member states’ actions to combat deliberate or accidental pollution in the marine environment in the framework of Directive 2005/35/EC “on ship-source pollution and on the introduction of penalties, including criminal penalties, for pollution offences”. The service is based on the Near Real Time analysis of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images for both oil pollution monitoring and vessel detection. This service has proven to be a valuable tool at EU level and specifically in the Baltic Sea basin as it has brought together even more the different Baltic Sea maritime administrations in the planning and monitoring of oil spill monitoring activities. The latest results stemming in the period February 2011 to June 2012 confirm the reduction of overall oil spill detections and highlight the deterrent effect provided by a guaranteed sustainable service such as CleanSeaNet.