Discharges at sea have been strictly regulated
European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has issued a document entitled as ”Addressing Illegal Discharges in the Marine Environment’‘ to support authorities involved in the enforcement chain addressingillegal pollution (e.g. surveillance operators, inspectors and investigators, Port State Control Officers,law enforcement officials). The document has been structured in two parts as follows:
Part 1 provides background information for developing a general understanding of ship-source pollution in the marine environment. It is assumed that readers will not necessarily have extensive experience in the maritime sector, and information is presented accordingly.
Part 2 givesa step-by-step overview from the initial indication of a possible pollution offence onwards, to support authorities in identifying the most effective actions depending on the particularities of the case and the national context.
Since Directive 2005/35/EC onship-source pollution and on the introduction of penalties,includingcriminal penalties, for pollution offences was adopted, progress has been made by Member Statesin addressing illegal discharges in the marine environment. The Directive refers to MARPOL and it explains that its objective is to provide for the criminalisation of MARPOL violations relating to pollution discharges but it also acknowledges most of MARPOL exceptions providing for situations when a discharge is not to be prosecuted. In particular, article 5 of the Directive provides that: ‘1. A discharge of polluting substances into any of the areas referred (…) shall not be regarded as an infringement if it satisfies the conditions set out in annex I, Regulations 9, 10, 11(a) or 11(c) or in annex II, Regulations 5, 6(a) or 6(c) of MARPOL 73/78. 2. A discharge of polluting substances into the areas referred to in article 3. 1 (c-e) shall not be regarded as an infringement for the owner, the master or the crew when acting under the master’s responsibility if it satisfies the conditions set out in annex I, Regulation 11(b) or in annex II, Regulation 6(b) of MARPOL 73/78.’ |
Fate of oil spilled at sea showing the main weathering processes (Source: ITOPF / Image credit EMSA document pg 32)
How EMSA provides support
The European Maritime Safety Agency is one of the EU’s decentralised agencies, and was established in 2002 by Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002. Based in Lisbon, the Agency provides technical assistance and support to the European Commission and Member States in the development and implementation of EU legislation on maritime safety, pollution by ships and maritime security. It has also been given operational tasks in the field of oil pollution response, vessel monitoring and in long range identification and tracking of vessels.
EMSA’s role in addressing issues related to unlawful discharges was reinforced in 2013, with the revision to the Agency’s Founding Regulation. The mandate of the Agency in this area was confirmed by Article 4(f), which states that one of the Agency’s core tasks is to ‘facilitate cooperation between the Member States and the Commission… in improving the identification and pursuit of ships making unlawful discharges in accordance with Directive 2005/35/EC on ship-source pollution and on the introduction of penalties for infringements.
On the basis of this Directive, EMSA developed CleanSeaNet, the satellite-based oil spill monitoring and vessel detection system. EMSA also hosts and manages other EU information systems which contribute to the objective of reducing pollutionin EU waters.
Find more information by reading EMSA document – Addressing Illegal Discharges in the Marine Environment