Mutual concerns of oil transporters and a coastal state - a Danish perspective

1. Mutual concerns of oil transporters and a coastal state - a Danish perspective Andreas Nordseth, Director, Danish Maritime Authority

2. 39.000 km coastline The Coastal State Denmark

3. Denmark – gateway to the Baltic Sea The Sound Distance (Skaw – Bornholm): approx. 255 nautical miles Maximum draft: 7.7 meters The Great Belt – Route T: Distance (Skaw – Bornholm): approx. 390 nautical miles Maximum draft: 15.0 meters

4. Characteristics Shallow depth, sharp turns and strong sea current

5. The Sound • Fewer passages but larger ships • Increase in the size of tankers

6. The Great Belt Dead weight tonnage • Increase in the size of ships • Increase in size and number of tanker passages

7. Characteristics Strong sea current, shallow depth, sharp turns Increased traffic density, coming traffic and head-on-situations Effect: Increased risk of groundings and collisions

8. Groundings in the Great Belt Period from 1 January 1997 to 1 July 2005 (8 years and 6 months) (From ”Groundings and collisions in the Great Belt 1997-2005”)

9. Facts Groundings: 46

10. Hatter

11. Hatter

12. Resolution MSC.138(76) on recommendation through the entrances to the Baltic Sea • entered into force 1 December 2003 • recommends use of pilot: On ships with draught of 11 m or more On ships carrying shipment of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive wastes - when following the established routing system through the entrances to the Baltic Sea (Route T)

13. None of the ships involved in the 46 groundings had a pilot on board

14. Estimated costs of a grounding that took place in 2004 Cost of pilot appr.: USD 7,500

15. To put it in short… • Not taking a pilot in accordance with Resolution MSC.138(76) on recommendation on navigation through the entrances to the Baltic Sea is: • a repellent exploitation of a legal regime established long before any one could imagine the type and size of cargo ships we • see today • detrimental to our common goals on safety and protection of the environment • and very bad business

16. Initiatives • DMA produced an information paper showing that the grounded ship could have taken pilot more than 375 times for the amount spent on the grounding • The information paper was sent to relevant partners of the shipping industry strongly advising large ships • always to take pilot on their way in and out of the Baltic Sea • The paper was submitted to the 24th session of the IMO Assembly (NOV 2005)

17. Initiatives • DEC 2005 • INTERTANKO, INTERCARGO and the Danish authorities decided to establish the Joint Pilotage User Group (JPUG) • MAY 2006 • The JPUG established with participation of DMA, RDANH, INTERTANKO, INTERCARGO, BIMCO, ICS and OCIMF • The objective of the JPUG is, through open transparent dialogue between pilotage service providers and users, to find ways to enhance the safety of navigation by: • ensuring optimal pilotage service in general, • encouraging the use of pilots for ships in transit through the entrances to the Baltic Sea.

18. Statistics [January – July 2006] • Ships passages increase 3 % • Ships without pilot decrease with  53 % • Tanker passages without pilot decrease by 29 % • Tankers (draught of 11 metres or more) taking pilot 97,9%

19. 0,979 ≈ 1 ? • High political and public attention on the risk of groundings in the Danish waters • ”Acts of god” no longer exists – nothing happens “by accident” • There are only incidents/casualties that should have been foreseen and avoided • There are no – acceptable – excuses • Any grounding will fuel the negative image that the public has of the shipping industry • ”It only takes one bad apple to spoil the whole bunch”

20. Thank you for your attention Safety Study: Groundings and Collisions in the Great Belt 1997 – 2005 can be downloaded from www.dma.dk www.dma.dk