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Nyet In My Back Yard, say Norwegians
01 Mar 2003
The Norwegian parliament is considering a new Act that will extend the country's territorial sea from four to 12 nautical miles. The proposed Act is designed to reduce the threat of environmental pollution from oil spills and comes in the wake of the recent Prestige incident.
'Russian oil companies are rapidly increasing their output from oil fields east of the Barents Sea, ' says Haakon Stang Lund of Norway's Wikborg Rein maritime law firm. 'As a result, ever increasing amounts of oil are being moved by tanker out of the Murmansk region and down the Norwegian coast. It is this increasing threat of pollution that has prompted the Norwegian authorities to act.'
The Act, which is now with the national Assembly for approval, would enable Norway to establish traffic separation zones along the Norwegian coastline. Tankers laden with oil would be directed further out to sea while vessels in ballast would be allowed nearer to shore.
It is hoped that this will significantly reduce the possibility of a grounding which could result in a spill. Over recent years there have been a number of such incidents along the Norwegian coast, some of which have polluted the coastline.
MJ Information No: 18042
