BALTIC SEAENVIRONMENT PROCEEDINGS No. 59 - Helcom

3.3
and provide it with necessary resources and other kind of
assistance.
Each municipality shall, in its own area, see to the
preparedness for and response to oil pollution incidents.
According to the normal Finnish legislative praxis it is
up to the municipality it self to decide which of its
organizations are in charge; normally fire brigades/rescue
services are nominated for this purpose.
In minor oil spills the municipality will take care of
necessary response actions alone or together with its
neighboring municipalities. It is also entitled to get
assistance for state authorities, if needed.
In major oil spills or spills at open sea the National
Board of Waters and the Environment (NBWE) shall arrange
response actions and appoint a supreme operational
commander (SOC). In these cases the municipal response
forces as well as forces from the other state authorities
shall operate under the command of the appointed SOC.
Material ability
Finland has nine state owned oil recovery vessel. They
are all multi purpose vessel used normally for other
purposes. Two largest vessels, orv HYLJE and orv HALLI,
are operated by the Navy and used as supply vessels and
coastal tankers. The seven others are operated by the
National Board of Navigation and used for sea route
maintenance works. The Provincial Government of Aland has
its own oil recovery vessel. The coastal towns and
municipalities have together c. 50 oil combatting boats
(length over 10 m) nine of which are oil recovery vessels
(length up to 18 m).
The National Board of Waters and the Environment maintains
13 stockpiles where state own combatting equipment and
material are stored. Coastal towns and municipalities have
their own stores for combatting material.
It can be calculated that the state has used FIM 130 M for
acquisition of oil combatting vessels and FIM 30 M for other
combatting equipment and material between 1976 - 1992. The
sum includes the total costs of purchase the multi-purpose
vessels. The municipalities have during the same period
used totally FIM 125 M for acquisition of combatting
boats, equipment and material.
At present two new projects are under way. The Frontier
Guard has ordered two sea patrol airplanes from Dornier.
One of them will carry onboard remote sensing equipment
paid from the budget of the National Board of Waters and
the Environment. The Frontier Guard has also ordered a new
off-shore patrol vessel which will be equipped for the
combatting of oil and chemical spills. The costs of the
combating arrangements will also in this case be paid by
the National Board of Waters and the Environment.
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