Finland soon to be able to fine ships for oil spills on high sea

New oil emission charge will be introduced in April

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Finnish officials will soon have extended means to interfere with oil and chemical spills from passing ships. Starting in April, Finland will be able to impose an on-the-spot fine on offending ships, even in international waters.
      The oil emission charge will make intervening with oil spills easier and more effective. Ships can be fined instantly, as soon as they are discovered having released oil into the sea within the Finnish territorial waters, or inside Finland's maritime economic zone.
      "The aim is to speed up the punitive measures", explains inspector Heli Haapasaari of Finland's Environmental Administration. "The owner or operator of a ship can be given a fine when the case is obvious and there is, for example, aerial surveillance information to be used as evidence", she says.
     
A year ago Finland introduced the concept of a maritime economic zone that extends from the outer limit of Finland's territorial waters to the middle of the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia - that is, to the economic zones of Estonia and Sweden respectively.
      The economic zone legislation includes enforcement of bans on dumping oil, thus making it possible to bring perpetrators before a Finnish court for polluting the sea.
      An amendment to the legislation also makes it possible to impose on-the-spot fines. The fine is determined by the size of the ship and extent of the discharge, but even at its smallest the fine is in the thousands of euros.
      Previously, oil discharges outside territorial waters were reported to officials of the country under whose flag the offending ship sailed. According to Haapasaari, 20-30 such statements were forwarded abroad, but in only two cases was a reply received informing that the shipping line had been given a fine.
      "At least in Sweden, the on-the-spot oil emission charge has made a difference".
     
In Sweden, the number of oil discharge findings dropped dramatically after on-the-spot fines were introduced, and the cases were widely publicised.
      In the waters near Finland, 48 oil spills were reported last year, 31 of which were inside Finland's territorial waters or economic zone. None of the suspected culprit vessels were prosecuted.
      During the worst year, 2001, no less than 107 oil discharges were reported in the same area.
      Estonia, Finland's neighbour across the Gulf of Finland, battles with a similar problem. A recent deliberate oil spill near the Estonian coast has killed thousands of sea birds.
      Apart from a dozen oil-stained birds that were discovered near Hanko, Finland seem to have escaped from the effects of that devastation.
      The World Wildlife Fund has recently requested better oil destruction preparedness in the Gulf of Finland. Captions:


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland adds 700 square kilometres to its territory (10.12.2004)
  Finland to fine ships for oil discharges in international waters (2.12.2004)

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