Training to Crackdown on Illegal Ship Discharges

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) provides joint Interpol training to member-state represetatives.

This year EMSA’s training and cooperation sector offered a new training course together with Interpol, the international police organization.

The contents of the course was developed by Interpol withhin the framework of the project “CleanSeas” a training course on “Illegal discharges and MARPOL Violations”.

Lecturers from EMSA, the US Department of Justice, the Swedish Coast Guard and Rotterdam’s Dutch Seaport police presented the training course to 26 participants designated by the competent authorities in the Member States.

The course focussed on improving investigations into shipping pollution violations (illegal discharges of oil, oil residues and oily mixtures) and on collecting appropriate evidence - also by means of the CleanSeaNet and SafeSeaNet programs managed by the Agency - to support successful prosecution.

The training course was very well received by the participants and EMSA will explore with the Member States’ focal points for training and cooperation and Interpol the possibility of renewing their cooperation.