Senior government officials from 18 contracting parties to the Barcelona Convention attended a regional workshop in Malta on the implementation of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol).

The workshop's main objective was to familiarise participants with the Marpol convention and, in particular, two of its annexes to ensure their correct implementation. The annexes in question relate to regulations for the control of pollution by noxious liquid substances in bulk and the prevention of pollution by harmful substances carried by sea in packaged form.

Marpol is the main international convention, adopted under the aegis of the International Maritime Organisation dealing with prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships. It includes regulations aimed at preventing and minimising pollution from ships, both accidental pollution and that from routine operations.

The workshop was organised by the Malta-based Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (Rempec). It was held within the framework of the European Union-funded Meda regional transport project known as the Euromed Cooperation on Maritime Safety and Prevention of Pollution from Ships - SafeMed II. This project is being implemented by Rempec in 10 Euromed Mediterranean partners.

Four speakers addressed the workshop: Marja C Tiemens-Idzinga, who has extensive experience and knowledge on the application of the two annexes of Marpol addressed during the meeting; Ken McDonald, a technical officer at IMO's Marine Environmental Division; Thomas Hoefer, member of the UN Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection's Working Group on the Evaluation of the Hazards of Harmful Substances Carried by Ships; and Alex Gerson, an Israeli flag and port state inspector.

Rempec director Frederic Hebert said the regional workshop highlighted the complementarity between the EU-funded SafeMed II project and the centre's programme of activities. "Most of SafeMed's activities are within the scope of the Regional Strategy for Prevention of and Response to Marine Pollution from Ships, adopted by the contracting parties to the Barcelona Convention," he said.

More information about the workshop is available at www.rempec.org and www.safemedproject.org.

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