Guiding Mediterranean countries on using Sea Alarm’s Self-Assessment Tool

Sea Alarm successfully contributed to a sub-regional online workshop organised by REMPEC between 7 and 8 September 2021 within the framework of its efforts to further develop and harmonise national oil spill response preparedness across Mediterranean countries.

This workshop was a follow-up to one organised for Western Mediterranean coastal States (Valletta, Malta April 2019) under the EU-funded Western Mediterranean Region Marine Oil and HNS Pollution Cooperation Project (West MOPoCo). During this project, Sea Alarm first introduced Algeria, France, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia and Spain to its Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) on oiled wildlife response preparedness.

During the workshop, Sea Alarm, together with other experts, trained thirty-five (35) representatives of competent authorities from different Mediterranean countries (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Libya, Monaco, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Turkey). The training allowed them to acquire hands-on working knowledge and experience on the use of harmonised self-assessment tools: the Readiness Evaluation Tool for Oil Spills (RETOS tool) and the Sea Alarm SAT.

The objective of this workshop, and other follow-up activities scheduled to take place in the upcoming months, is to assist these countries in developing national self-assessment reports, including gap analyses and performance analysis, which will allow them to develop a national oil spill contingency planning improvement programme.

Overall, 19 Mediterranean countries have been trained by Sea Alarm on the use of the wildlife preparedness SAT. This is a big step forward for Sea Alarm in advocating for better oiled wildlife response preparedness at national and regional levels in countries part of the Mediterranean, Baltic and North Seas.