Towards a Baltic Sea Region Strategy in Critical ... - Helsinki.fi

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CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION IN THE BALTIC SEA REGION of equipment on vessels, such as a lack of e-navigation readiness. Ship owners do not see the need for this equipment, without an IMO obligation even if basically the question concerns relatively inexpensive investments, mainly transponders. The Baltic Sea would act as a very good testing ground in the EU and globally in this matter, since there are already many advanced technical solutions in use, backed up by long-lasting cooperation between the Gulf of Finland states. In addition, the MA emphasised that a system of penalties regarding ships that disregard safety and GOFREP reporting rules should be agreed upon. The restrictions should be severe enough to have an economic effect on ship owners. At present there is no such system, and in order to be effective this type of regulation on pain of sanctions should be enhanced throughout the whole EU. However, by building safety procedures and systems like the GOFREP and VTS, it is possible to cover only part of the ‘safety menu’ needed for a safe Gulf of Finland. The above- mentioned systems and procedures can diminish the risks entailed by growing tanker traffic but it would not eliminate them. Risk related to human factors and in many cases to the level of professionalism of ship crews, remains at about 20 % of all risks, despite what procedural and technical measures are taken. A driving licence ‘ice passport’ Solving the problem of navigating in dangerous ice conditions needs both political and technical responses and solutions. The view of the MAs interviewed is that the specific geographical context of the Gulf of “In avoiding risks and accidents it is important to Finland is not emphasize the role and the know-how of ships’ crews.” thoroughly understood by the EU authorities, “The capacities to navigate in ice conditions as well as or by the IMO. For the the security risks should be ensured in sharing MAs the most worrying issue is not the quality information on vessel traffic consideration.” of tonnage, as it was few years ago, but the quality and numbers of personnel onboard the ships. However, having a wellqualified crew is a costly business for shipping companies who may decide to prioritize their expenses differently. An ever bigger share of the ships and shipping companies that navigate in the Gulf of Finland are Russian. Taking into consideration the winter-time conditions and the requirements this imposes on ships’ personnel it is a positive trend that more ships in the Gulf of Finland are navigated by personnel with experience of winter navigation. For example, it can be speculated that the running aground of the Greek oil tanker Propontis, which took place in the Gulf of Finland in February 2007, might have been avoided if its crew had had a deeper knowledge and experience of winter navigation. However, the maritime authorities emphasized that winter navigation training for shipping companies and the crews of the ships would be highly necessary, which would enhance the safety of vessel traffic in the whole Baltic Sea, but especially in the narrow and shallow areas of the Gulf of Finland. Therefore, the need to develop an education and testing system, which was several times referred to as an ice passport, is immense. This should be put on the political agenda of EU traffic 162 NORDREGIO REPORT 2007:5
CHAPTER IV: OIL TRANSPORTATION ANDMARITIME SAFETY authorities, which would in turn develop the issue, including for discussion by the IMO. Practitioner–level cooperation Neither safety nor security can be achieved through a one-size fits all approach. It is worth of considering too whether it can be achieved regionally. Despite common goals, safety and especially security measures remain issues “In order to best improve safety it is important to that emphasize the enhance cooperation on a professional practitioners’ level sovereign and national i.e. “harmonize by doing”. In addition it is of utmost decision-making in the importance to put this on political agenda, since no globalised world. This analysis has shown that progress can be made without a firm political will.” issues of sovereignty still dominate at the higher political level, but that at the more practical (lower) level they do not create an obstacle to deepening cooperation. A perfect example is the development of the GOFREP system. Considering the risks present in the Gulf of Finland, high marks are due for the cooperation carried out. On such a heavily used sea with high probability of oil accident, the risks are being handled exceptionally well. However, there is a need for political decisions and commitment on the level of IMO and EU, to give a mandate for safety cooperation to evolve further. This mandate would enhance the adoption of existing technical solutions to battle the risks of growing vessel traffic. This is necessary because it is probable that the volume of oil transports will double by 2015. A larger volume of oil transported through the Gulf of Finland will not cause a problem in itself because the size of the ships will increase. But a traffic situation with more and bigger vessels has to be controlled in a much more profound way than is the case today. However, it would be too simplistic to think that cross-border action only at the level of practitioners is enough. It is important to raise the issues to the international as well as national agendas and get binding instruments e.g. in the environmental protection issues. This should be done in the same cooperative spirit as the operational cooperation. Afterword The Gulf of Finland has become one of the risk areas for oil transportation. Taking into account the generally narrow ship routes, due to the shallow waters, as well as winter conditions the probability of collisions and groundings is significant. There are, however, currently several advantages within the area of Gulf of Finland regarding the safety of oil transportation. On the plus side, the fleets sailing in the Baltic Sea are mostly modern. Moreover, transportation with single hull vessels will be a thing of the past by 2010 or at the latest by 2015 and, importantly, the legislation around maritime transportation is strict. Russia as a central player in the Gulf of Finland and as a global great power wants all decisions to go through the IMO, thus emphasising the UN system rather than the EU system. However, in most cases when Finland and Estonia have tried to operate the system according to EU directives, Russia has not been reluctant to NORDREGIO REPORT 2007:5 163
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Towards a Baltic Sea Region Strateg
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Nordregio Report 2007:5 ISSN 1403-2
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5.4 Impacts caused by terrorism, na
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CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION
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PREFACE PREFACE With the Commission
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PREFACE The study includes tens of
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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I:
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CHAPTER II: ELECTRICITY 2 ELECTRIC
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CHAPTER II: ELECTRICITY electricity
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