Malta close to adopting marine pollution contingency plan

Malta is close to adopting a national marine pollution contingency plan as the Valletta-based Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea continues to lay stress on member states to strengthen their capacities to prevent, prepare for and respond to marine pollution.

The centre has just held its 10th focal points meeting in Malta, which, among other things, discussed and endorsed the organisation’s work programme for 2012-2013.

Representatives of Mediterranean coastal states, United Nations organisations, NGOs and international professional bodies also analysed developments of offshore exploration and production. This was done in view of the entry into force of the Offshore Protocol to the Barcelona Convention and, according to the meeting organisers, “to avoid the possibility of an incident similar to the Deepwater Horizon spill, which occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, from happening in the Mediterranean Sea”.

In its efforts to prevent pollution from ships, the centre said it had built upon its previous achievements in the enforcement of the Marpol Convention, including a first aerial surveillance operation against illicit discharges at sea, called Oscar-Med. This coordinated operation, involving aircraft provided by France, Spain and Italy, was concentrated in the Western Mediterranean. Oscar-Med provided specialised training to reinforce the technical capacities of law enforcement officials in the region.

Participants at the Malta meeting were updated about the progress achieved through projects being implemented by the centre, including SafeMed II, a €5.5 million EU funded initiative, and the Glo­Ballast partnerships project.

www.rempec.org