WestMOPoCo

The Project Western Mediterranean Region Marine Oil and HNS Pollution Cooperation (West MOPoCo) runs from 2019 to 2021 and supports cooperation in the field of preparedness for and response to oil and Highly Noxious Substances (HNS) marine pollution and in improving the quality and interoperability of response capacities.

The WestMOPoCo HNS manual is now completed and can be found here. A printable version of the manual is available from the Secretaria on request.

WestMOPoCo (Western Mediterranean region Marine Oil & HNS Pollution Cooperation) is a European project involving the French Secrétariat Général de la Mer (as leader) and such partners as REMPEC, Cedre, ITOPF, ISPRA (Italy), HELCOM, OSPAR/BA, Algeria, Malta, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, as well as the Principality of Monaco on its own funding.

In addition to project management and communication, 4 other work packages have been defined:

  • development and update of pollution response support tools: HNS response guidelines, tools such as REMPEC’s Maritime Integrated Decision Support Information System (MIDSIS-TROCS) and the Mediterranean Emergency Reporting System (MedERSys).
  • assessment of the National Contingency Plans of the countries involved and, if necessary, the establishment of recommendations to improve them.
  • study of international cooperation mechanisms for emergency procedures in this area and the reinforcement of synergies between countries in the event of a Spill.
  • organisation of regional workshops and training courses on the use of the developed or updated tools and procedures.

One of the objectives of the project is the development of a joint (REMPEC, Bonn Agreement, HELCOM) HNS response manual, based on existing manuals and aiming at ensuring a safe execution of response operations to chemical spills in the Mediterranean, Baltic and North Seas.