Annual meeting of the HELCOM working group on maritime issues starts today
National maritime traffic authorities from the Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Union will meet at the annual meeting of the HELCOM working group on maritime issues starting today, HELCOM said in its press release.
One of the more recent issues on the agenda is to consider the drafting of a comprehensive HELCOM assessment of maritime activities in the Baltic Sea area by 2016, as producing such an assessment was agreed by the coastal countries and EU during the 2013 HELCOM Ministerial Meeting.
Based on national submissions, HELCOM updates annually a number of datasets on maritime activities in the Baltic Sea area covering issues such as spills observed via aerial surveillance, shipping intensity (AIS) and accidents, response operations, fisheries activities and dredging. The HELCOM Maritime Assessment, anticipated to be approved for release in December 2016, will synthesize this kind of information and utilize other sources to get a comprehensive overview of maritime activities as well their environmental effects. The publication will particularly focus on developments during the last ten years, from 2005 until 2015.
Besides the regular data collection, the Maritime Assessment will also use results of other ongoing assessment activities such as the initiative to draft an HELCOM assessment on submerged hazardous objects dumped or lost in the Baltic Sea by 2016. Moreover, the Maritime Assessment will support other activities within the HELCOM framework and eventually be an opportunity to consider the long term effects of shipping regulations in the region.
The Meeting will also cover several other issues of more operational nature such as regional implementation of the Ballast Water Convention, implementation of the Baltic Sulphide Oxide Emission Control Area (SECA), Baltic Sea as a MARPOL Annex IV Sewage Special Area, as well as revised recommendations for harmonized fines.
The Meeting will be hosted by the Lithuanian Maritime Authority in Klaipeda, Lithuania, and chaired by Ms. Anna Petersson, Sweden, Chair of HELCOM Maritime.
