OREANDA-NEWS. March 19, 2010. An international seminar on the Baltic Master II project was held on 17-18 March 2010 at the premises of the Port of Gdynia Authority S.A.

An International Convention on the Control and Management for Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) was discussed during the meeting, as well as future liabilities of ports, maritime administrations and ship owners in this area. The main objective of the seminar was to present the procedures for dealing with the ballast water and sediments in the Baltic Sea Region, as well as proposals for new solutions.

The seminar was addressed to people connected with ports, maritime administration, representatives of ministries, regions and municipal offices, research centers and universities.

Baltic Master II is a key project listed in the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region embracing all the countries of the region. The project aims at improving maritime safety by integration of local and regional development strategy of cross-border cooperation. This includes improving the readiness on the ground in the event of oil spills and preventive measures to protect the environment against the adverse effects of maritime transport.

Port of Gdynia Authority S.A. (with the main involvement of the Environmental Protection Department ) is actively involved in two working groups of the project: "WP 3 - Improved on land response capacity to oil spills" (Work package 3) and "WP 4 - Enhanced prevention of pollution from maritime transport" (Work package 4).