No illegal oil discharges detected during HELCOM’s surveillance operation over the north-eastern Baltic

Helsinki, 30 September  (HELCOM Information Service) - No illegal discharges of oil were detected during the Helsinki Commission’s international CEPCO North aerial surveillance flights, which were conducted on 28-29 September over the north-eastern parts of the Baltic Sea.

Three aircraft from Denmark, Finland and Sweden have for up to 24 hours continuously surveyed the agreed route for oil pollution in the Gulf of Finland and the north-eastern part of the Baltic Proper. The operation remained classified until the last plane landed on Wednesday in order to prevent possible offenders from discovering the surveillance activities.

This year, the operation was organised by the Estonian Border Guard Aviation Group. The base airport for the CEPCO North flights was in Tallinn. Remote sensing equipment, such as side looking radars (SLAR), infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) cameras, were used during the operation. Also, the European Maritime Safety Agency’s CleanSeaNet service provided satellite images of the flight area.

“The CEPCO North 2010 surveillance flights were successful,” says Monika Stankiewicz, Professional Secretary for maritime and response issues at HELCOM. “The results of this operation, as well as the latest national aerial surveillance data indicate that the number of pollution sightings by patrol aircraft has been decreasing in the past several years. Pollution surveillance has a significant preventive effect on the number of illegal oil discharges at sea. It considerably promotes compliance with regulations for the protection of the marine environment.”

Two CEPCO (Coordinated Extended Pollution Control Operation) flights are arranged annually by HELCOM in the Baltic Sea: one in the south and one in the north. During CEPCO flights several HELCOM countries jointly carry out continuous aerial surveillance activities for 24 hours or more along the predetermined routes in areas where operational spills are likely. CEPCO flights also support national aerial surveillance data by detecting illegal discharges which would not be disclosed by routine national surveillance activities. This enables a realistic estimation of the total number of oil spills discharged into the Baltic Sea during one randomly selected day.

According to the latest national annual reports provided by the Member States to HELCOM, the number of deliberate, illegal oil discharges from ships observed by national surveillance planes and satellites over the Baltic Sea area in 2009 decreased by more than 25% compared to 2007. Since 1999 the number of observed spills has declined by 63%.

178 illicit oil spills were detected during a total of 5,046 hours of surveillance flights during 2009. This compares to 210 discharges during a total of 4,603 air patrol hours in 2008, and 238 discharges observed during 3,969 air patrol hours in 2007. A decade ago in 1999 a total of 488 discharges were detected during 4,883 air patrol hours.

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), is an intergovernmental organisation of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Community working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region. 

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," more usually known as the Helsinki Convention.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Monika Stankiewicz

Professional Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)40 840 2471

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: monika.stankiewicz@helcom.fi

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)46 850 9196

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi