Mutual concerns of oil transporters and a coastal state - a Danish perspective Andreas Nordseth, Director, Danish Maritime Authority

km coastline The Coastal State Denmark

The Sound Distance (Skaw – Bornholm):approx. 255 nautical miles Maximum draft:7.7 meters The Great Belt – Route T: Distance (Skaw – Bornholm):approx. 390 nautical miles Maximum draft:15.0 meters Denmark – gateway to the Baltic Sea

Characteristics Shallow depth, sharp turns and strong sea current

The Sound Fewer passages but larger ships Increase in the size of tankers

The Great Belt Dead weight tonnage Increase in the size of ships Increase in size and number of tanker passages

Characteristics Strong sea current, shallow depth, sharp turns Increased traffic density, coming traffic and head-on-situations Effect: Increased risk of groundings and collisions

Groundings in the Great Belt Period from 1 January 1997 to 1 July 2005 (8 years and 6 months) (From ”Groundings and collisions in the Great Belt ”)

Facts Groundings: 46

Hatter

Resolution MSC.138(76) on recommendation through the entrances to the Baltic Sea  entered into force 1 December 2003  recommends use of pilot: On ships with draught of 11 m or more On ships carrying shipment of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive wastes - when following the established routing system through the entrances to the Baltic Sea (Route T)

None of the ships involved in the 46 groundings had a pilot on board

Off-hire lossUSD 1,450,000 Repair expensesUSD 1,000,000 Salvage expensesUSD 350,000 Environmental protectionUSD 30,000 TotalUSD 2,830,000 Estimated costs of a grounding that took place in 2004 Cost of pilot appr.: USD 7,500

Not taking a pilot in accordance with Resolution MSC.138(76) on recommendation on navigation through the entrances to the Baltic Sea is: a repellent exploitation of a legal regime established long before any one could imagine the type and size of cargo ships we see today detrimental to our common goals on safety and protection of the environment and very bad business To put it in short…

Initiatives DMA produced an information paper showing that the grounded ship could have taken pilot more than 375 times for the amount spent on the grounding The information paper was sent to relevant partners of the shipping industry strongly advising large ships always to take pilot on their way in and out of the Baltic Sea The paper was submitted to the 24th session of the IMO Assembly (NOV 2005)

Initiatives DEC 2005 INTERTANKO, INTERCARGO and the Danish authorities decided to establish the Joint Pilotage User Group (JPUG) MAY 2006 The JPUG established with participation of DMA, RDANH, INTERTANKO, INTERCARGO, BIMCO, ICS and OCIMF The objective of the JPUG is, through open transparent dialogue between pilotage service providers and users, to find ways to enhance the safety of navigation by: ensuring optimal pilotage service in general, encouraging the use of pilots for ships in transit through the entrances to the Baltic Sea.

Statistics [January – July 2006] Ships passages increase 3 % Ships without pilot decrease with 53 % Tanker passages without pilot decrease by29 % Tankers (draught of 11 metres or more) taking pilot97,9%

0,979 ≈ 1 ? High political and public attention on the risk of groundings in the Danish waters –”Acts of god” no longer exists – nothing happens “by accident” –There are only incidents/casualties that should have been foreseen and avoided There are no – acceptable – excuses Any grounding will fuel the negative image that the public has of the shipping industry –”It only takes one bad apple to spoil the whole bunch”

Thank you for your attention Safety Study: Groundings and Collisions in the Great Belt 1997 – 2005 can be downloaded from