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MEKUN: Protecting the oceans
Rapid response and prevention: dealing with marine and coastal pollution and oil spills.
"Mayday, mayday, motorvessel PALLAS, C6LO9, fire on deck, 17 persons on board, request immediate assistance in position 20 nautical miles west of Esbjerg".
This radio message from the captain more than 25 years ago changed and shaped the way we prevent and fight pollution accidents on our seas.
It was on October 25, 1998, when the captain of the timber freighter PALLAS sent this radio message off the Danish island of Römö. On October 29, the burning and rudderless ship, flying the flag of the Bahamas, ran aground off Amrum. The salvage operation was not completed until January 10 of the following year. The oil slick caused by the accident led to the death of 16,000 birds in the Wadden Sea, by far the most species-rich area in Europe.
The images of the dying birds and the burning freighter are etched in the collective memory of the people living along the coast. The oil slick on the North Sea covered an area around 8,300 meters long and 200 meters wide. This oil slick was caused by a combination of a series of mishaps, misjudgements and omissions in conjunction with stormy weather conditions.
As a result of this accident, the Central Command for Maritime Emergencies was set up as a joint institution of the federal government and the five coastal states to ensure joint accident management on the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The Central Command for Maritime Emergencies combines responsibility for casualty care, pollution response, firefighting, assistance and emergency response-related salvage of ships in complex damage situations at sea as well as structured public relations work. The Central Command for Maritime Emergencies is also a partner of the network of authorities in the Maritime Safety Center, in which the competencies of all maritime operational forces of the federal government and the five coastal states are bundled.
The Central Command for Maritime Emergencies has proven to be an indispensable organisation. Thanks to this cooperation, an oil spill in the Kiel Canal was prevented in 2023.
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Thanks to these facilities, our coasts are now better protected from oil and other pollutants than ever before. There have been extensive redesigns in terms of the safety of traffic routes and ship operations, the protection of the marine environment and the coastline.
The Central Command for Maritime Emergencies has proven to be an indispensable institution. Thanks to this cooperation, an oil spill in the Kiel Canal was prevented in 2023. The accidents involving the burning tanker “ANNIKA” in October 2024 and the unmaneuverable “EVENTIN” in January 2025 directly off the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were also successfully managed.
Nevertheless, the risk of accidents and oil spills in our waters is high due to shipping traffic and the geopolitical situation.
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In addition to the Central Command for Maritime Emergencies, the State Agency for Coastal Protection, National Park and Marine Conservation Schleswig-Holstein (LKN.SH) works together with twenty voluntary fire departments, two professional fire departments and eight local branches of the technical relief organization. These are contractually involved in combating pollutant accidents and are available as so-called state-owned oil spill response units for initial response and combating smaller pollutant accidents.
Every year, over 150,000 ships and countless pleasure craft pass through the major shipping lanes of our North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts, the Elbe and the Kiel Canal. Over 100 accidents and incidents occur in the process. The LKN.SH and its partners practice the use of their equipment, dealing with oily birds, communication with each other and between the staffs and coastal states in exercises and training courses.
Combating pollutants is important because: A pollutant is any substance that can have harmful effects on the environment when it enters the water, regardless of whether it enters the water in packaged or unpackaged form. We must take the best possible precautions against this risk and contain it in the event of damage.
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