Cross-Border Risks in the Baltic Sea Region: Lessons to ... - Helsinki.fi

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1. Introduction
The Baltic Sea Region can basically face
the whole spectrum of potential civic risks
and hazards. These include disasters of both
natural and man-made origin, such as environmental
degradation or maritime accidents
at sea. Civil protection experts share a common
concern for the main risk factor, which
stems from the interaction of the everincreasing
maritime traffic, a fragile and vulnerable
ecosystem and continuous pollution.
This state-of-the-art report includes the
identification of areas for cross-border risks
and the needs for cross-border, cross-sectoral
and multi-level cooperation in the Baltic
Sea Region (BSR). As this report indicates,
the most potential cross-border risks in the
BSR are oil spills, both on the coast and at
sea. This report focuses particularly on oil
spill prevention. It also aims to develop guidelines
for other cross-border and cross-sectoral
cooperation, primarily at transnational,
regional and local levels.
Particularly hazardous areas in the Baltic
Sea are the Gulf of Finland, the Archipelago
Sea and the Quark, the threshold between the
Bothnian Sea and the Bothnian Bay, which
have a specific ecological value but also serve
heavy maritime traffic, particularly on the route
between Helsinki and Tallinn. Acknowledging
that national measures are not sufficient to
prevent environmental disasters in the Baltic
Sea, the Baltic Sea States signed the Helsinki
Convention in 1974, which came into force in
1980. Finally, regional cooperation for environmental
protection (HELCOM) was initiated. 1
At the Helsinki Commission Meeting in
February 2003, Finland proposed that the
Baltic Sea be designated as a Particularly
Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA). This was later
endorsed. A PSSA is an area, which needs
special protection through actions of the
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
"because of its significance for recognized
ecological or socio-economic or scientific reasons
and which may be vulnerable to damage
by international shipping." 2 The designation
is seen as essential for the protection of
both population and property in the coastal
areas, as well as of marine wildlife.
The Baltic Sea and its archipelago is
not only a vulnerable and diversified ecosystem
that suffers from increasing passenger
traffic. The sea is especially sensitive to oil
spills and to protect it IMO has banned the
use of single-hulled oil tankers in the Baltic.
Another challenge in the protection of the
Baltic is to treat waste in an appropriate way
in the ports. HELCOM recommends the creation
of "reception facilities in ports", where
the transference of waste is taken care of and
the dropping of waste can be made without
charges, at least at the regulation level.
However, all countries do not yet have their
system working properly. To be able to protect
the Baltic Sea from spills it is important to
cooperate at the international level. Crossborder
exercises are also important for the
efficient handling of all oil spills.
The risk of major oil spills happening in
the Baltic Sea is increasing. For the next couple
of years the traffic, e.g. the amount of
transported oil, is forecast to increase.
Referring to HELCOM HABITAT (4/2003,
Document 3.1/3), during the last six years the
amount of oil transported in the Sea has doubled,
being currently about 40 million tons per
year. By the year 2005 it is expected to
increase up to 80 million tons. Oil and chemical
transportation is expected to increase up
to 160 million tons by 2010 as a result of the
building of new oil harbours in Russia, in
Primorsk and Vysotsk.
An increase in traffic volumes causes
risks to grow. This is particularly true in some
sub-regions of the Baltic Sea, e.g. the Baltic
proper and the Sound, where the narrow and
shallow straits are causing additional risks. As
such, any accident generating oil or chemical
spills has disastrous effects on the vulnerable
Baltic Sea. 3 HELCOM HABITAT points out
that since 1980 twenty major oil incidents,
where oil outflow has been more than 100
tons, have occurred. 4 It takes 30 years for the
Baltic's waters to be renewed since the points
of entry for new water are few and narrow.
These narrow ship lanes and shallow
waters increase the probability for collisions
and groundings. These incidents together
with other kinds of risks, for instance terrorist
attacks, may have severe consequences for
the people, property and environment of the
region. According to a risk analysis that was
carried out, the advantages at the moment
include the comparative modernity of the
fleets sailing the Baltic, the strict legislation,
an effective information flow, and the possibili-
1
State of the environment of the Baltic Sea, Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe, 27 May 2002, 1.
2
HELCOM HABITAT 4/2003, Document 3.1/3, 3
3
HELCOM HABITAT 4/2003, Document 3.1/3, 4
4
HELCOM HABITAT 4/2003, Document 3.1/3, 6
5
Baltic Sea Threatened Environment, Leyla Alyanak, Earth Times News Service, Lithuania, 1999, 3.