Multinational Response and Preparedness to Oil and Chemical Spills

The need for regional cooperation in the NE Atlantic to face marine pollution has been previously demonstrated by historic accidents in Spanish, Moroccan, French and Portuguese coasts. The Lisbon Agreement, recently ratified (2014) by the mentioned countries and EU, envisions the cooperation in case of pollution incidents. Transnational strategies to face marine pollution with hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) and especially with oil spills have been under development in different regions in the context of international agreements and EU RTD projects. However, the Atlantic sub-region involving Morocco, Madeira and Canary Islands has not been similarly prepared in an integrated fashion. Furthermore, recent oil and gas prospecting and drilling activities are increasing the awareness of potential environmental threats in this area. Although spill accidents with HNS are not as frequent as oil spills, their impacts, the variety of products and increasing volume transported justify the development of regional and cross border capacities to respond to both spill types. This is particularly relevant in the studied area, which is environmentally sensitive and socio-economically dependent upon marine resources and marine-based tourism.

Built on previous EU efforts, and in compliance with parallel international protocols (e.g. OPRC-HNS), strategies and current EU RTD initiatives, MARPOCS promotes a common operational framework supported with state-of-the-art model-based decision support tools and exercises for oil and HNS spills, adapted to the region and supported by cross border cooperation, implementation and training of local, regional and national authorities. This strategy will strengthen the capacity for mutual assistance and multinational preparedness and response to accidental pollution episodes in this crossborder sub-region, as planned in the Lisbon Agreement.