The coast guard keeps an eye on the sea

Coast guard

Presentation of surveillance aircraft in Ostend

Secretary of State for Science Policy, Mr Courard, presented the aircraft in the Airport of Ostend. The instruments in the plane have been completely renewed for an even better control of the North Sea from the air. The new radar has been financed by the National Lottery.

Surveillance aircraft MUMM

Ronny Schallier, head of the aerial surveillance team: «Aerial surveillance is an important element in the battle against pollution because of the dissuasive effect. In 20 years, the number of observed oil slicks has dropped considerably. The aircraft is now equipped with the most modern instruments to trace oil pollution better than ever, and the legal follow up of pollution cases can be done more efficiently.»

In Ostend, we also presented the results of the surveillance programme of 2012. In 2012, MUMM has spent 176 flight hours performing aerial surveillance in the North Sea in the framework of the Belgian Coast Guard structure. 114 of these flight hours were specifically dedicated to pollution control flights above the sea and along the Belgian coast.

In total, 11 discharges were detected at sea:

- 5 operational oil slicks (of which 4 in Belgian waters and 1 in nearby British waters),

- 1 illegal chemical discharge,

- 2 unidentified slicks, but probably consisting of chemicals or vegetable oil,

- 3 legal discharges, of which 1 vegetable oil slick and 2 permitted chemical discharges (MARPOL Annex II, Cat Y substances).

The link between an illegal pollution and its polluter was established twice. The first case consisted of a mineral oil discharge in Belgian waters by a Belgian vessel. The observation was immediately reported to the competent authorities and an official statement was submitted to the Prosecutor’s office. The second case involved an allegedly illegal MARPOL Annex II discharge of a chemical substance by a Maltese chemical tanker in Belgian waters. Immediately after the observation, a Port State Control request was submitted to the Dutch authorities in the next port of call. With the conclusions of that inspection, MUMM submitted an official statement to the competent Prosecutor’s office.

Finally, during transit, take-off and landing procedures 3 oil slicks were observed in the port of Antwerp and 1 in the port of Zeebrugge. The collected information on those slicks was immediately transmitted to the Maritime Police for follow-up.

More information: www.mumm.ac.be