REMPEC holds regional workshop on MARPOL Implementation

This is the main international convention, adopted under the aegis of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), concerning prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships. It includes regulations aimed at preventing and minimizing pollution from ships, both accidental pollution and that from routine operations, and includes six technical Annexes.

The Workshop’s main objective was the familiarization of senior government officials from Mediterranean countries with the MARPOL Convention and, in particular, its Annexes II and III to ensure their correct implementation. While Annex II relates to regulations for the control of pollution by noxious liquid substances in bulk, Annex III regulates the prevention of pollution by harmful substances carried by sea in packaged form.

Held within the framework of the European Union (EU) funded MEDA Regional Transport Project ‘Euromed Cooperation on Maritime Safety and Prevention of Pollution from Ships – SafeMed II’ being implemented by REMPEC in ten Euromed Mediterranean partners, this regional workshop also formed part of REMPEC’s programme of activities 2010-2011 as approved by the 16^th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean Sea.

The four speakers were Ms Marja C Tiemens-Idzinga who has extensive experience and knowledge on the application of MARPOL Annexes II and III; Mr Ken McDonald who is a Technical Officer at IMO’s Marine Environmental Division; Dr Thomas Hoefer, a senior expert from Germany and a member of the UN Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) Working Group on the Evaluation of the Hazards of Harmful Substances Carried by Ships; and Mr Alex Gerson, a Flag and Port State Inspector from Israel.

Participants hailed from 18 Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. Together with Jordan, the last eight mentioned are also SafeMed beneficiaries.

Frederic Hebert, REMPEC director, said that this regional workshop highlighted the complementarity between the EU funded SafeMed II Project, being implemented by REMPEC, 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. In this respect, when possible, and in order to provide a holistic regional dimension, some project activities such as this workshop, were extended to other Contracting Parties that are not directly benefiting from the SafeMed Project’, said Mr Hebert.

Recently, the European Commission (EC) decided to extend some of the activities of the SafeMed II Project to four Western Balkan countries that are part of the Union for the Mediterranean process and also Parties to the Barcelona Convention and also to further stimulate cooperation around the whole Mediterranean basin.

Further information about this workshop is available at www.rempec.org and www.safemedproject.org