North Adriatic Maritime Incident Response System

ended

By adopting a holistic approach to marine pollution incident management at-sea and on-shore, NAMIRS will contribute to enhancing prevention of, and protection from, the effects of maritime disasters in the North Adriatic Sea. The North Adriatic Sea - a semi-closed basin where the three partner countries Croatia, Italy and Slovenia share a marine surface of approx. 550 sq.km – represents an area of utmost importance in terms of interactions among different uses of the sea (coastal and maritime tourism, transport of goods and passengers, fishery, aquaculture, oil & gas, energy and communication, sand extraction, cultural heritage, protected areas). In this context, accidental marine pollution, in particular deriving from oil-spills, is a dangerous threat with potentially devastating environmental and economic consequences. Whereas existing national Contingency Plans are not sufficient to tackle such a transboundary threat, NAMIRS will support better preparedness and more coordinated response at transnational level, also in line with the Barcelona Convention and related Protocols. Strengthened regional cooperation and cross-sectorial coordination will be achieved by integrating the knowledge, tools and resources available within NAMIRS multi-stakeholder partnership. The consortium will elaborate specific Guidelines for the revision & update of the Sub-Regional Contingency Plan for the Adriatic Sea, signed by the three partner countries in 2005 but never entered into force. Standard Operating Procedures for first responders will be also outlined, which will be the object of a dedicated Training programme and later validated in a simulation exercise at-sea. This cooperative process will result in smoother communication and interoperability through the establishment of a ready-for-operations sub-regional mechanism at prompt disposal of North Adriatic countries and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, easily transferable to the other Adriatic-Ionian countries.