Preventing acute pollution

Objectives

• Enhance international cooperation on preparedness against acute pollution, especially in the High North, by initiating and participating in assessments and development work, and by developing and  strengthening bilateral relations with Russia and the other stakeholders in the region through participation in the Arctic Council and other relevant forums.
• Survey and assure the quality of ports of refuge along the entire coast of Norway, including Svalbard, and integrate these in the Coastal Administration’s contingency plan.
  Provide public access to information about the location and suitability of these ports via the online map service “Kystinfo kartløsning”.
• Improve the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps for Svalbard.
• Secure access to relevant resources for efficient surveillance of acute pollution incidents, make new aerial surveillance contracts, ensuring that the aircraft is equipped with the best technology available, and facilitate the co-utilisation of the aircraft by other public agencies and the petroleum industry.
• Establish sufficient, nation-wide emergency towing preparedness based on hired vessels, make agreements with the towboat industry, the petroleum industry and neighboring countries, and ensure the further improvement of emergency towing services.
• Make recommendations for how to deal with shipwrecks containing oil or other harmful substances that pose an unacceptable environmental risk, to avoid any future threat to the environment by the wreck