EMSA

Founded in the aftermath of the Erika and Prestige disasters...

Founded in the aftermath of the Erika and Prestige disasters...

EMSA has also been given tasks in the field of pollution response, vessel traffic monitoring and in the long-range identification and tracking of ships. Employing over 200 staff at its offices in Lisbon, the Agency is a centre of excellence for maritime safety in Europe.

Pollution, Preparedness & Response

Roughy half of EMSA's budget is focused on pollution preparedness and response activities. In particular, the Agency offers a network of contracted oil pollution response vessels. Spread across the European coastline, these vessels can be called upon by Member States in case of a major oil spill at sea.

EMSA Maritime Information Systems

EMSA's SafeSeaNet system offers Member States information to track the 20 000 or so commercial ships that are in and around European waters at any given time. The LRIT system offers the possibility to track European ships worldwide.

Accident investigation

Shipping accidents happen. And when they do, accident investigation can help identify problems, and to learn lessons that may prevent accidents in future. EMSA manages the EU's EMCIP database for sharing marine accident investigation information, and is helping to improve standards in accident investigation across coastal states. Since 2007, EMSA has also published an annual Maritime Accident Review.

Protecting the marine environment

EMSA provides ships to help Europe better respond to major oil spills, satellite images to identify polluting vessels, and ensures ships comply with environmental rules. The Agency's marine environmental expertise covers areas such as ballast water management, port waste reception facilities and anti-fouling coatings for vessels.

Ensuring quality shipping

EMSA 'inspects the inspectors' of classification societies, assesses Port State Control systems, tracks problem ships, and safeguards the standards of on-board equipment.

  1. 0
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5

EMSA Videos

watch more videos

Latest News

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
Prev Next

Work Programme 2015

16.02.2015

Work Programme 2015

Besides describing the well-known tasks of EMSA and the purpose of its activities in the fields of maritime safety, security and pollution prevention and response, the EMSA Work Programme also gives information about what is [...]

EMSA publishes 'Evaluation of risk from raking damages due to grounding'. A report on the 'Damage St…

13.02.2015

EMSA publishes 'Evaluation of risk from raking damages due to grounding'. A report on the 'Damage Stability Study' series undertaken by DNVGL

The issue of stability, and especially damage stability of passenger ships, has been frequently re-visited. This has been so, not due to the number of associated accidents, but due to the consequences that these accidents [...]

Network of Stand-by Oil Spill Response Vessels: Drills and Exercises. Annual Report 2014

12.02.2015

Network of Stand-by Oil Spill Response Vessels: Drills and Exercises. Annual Report 2014

In order to provide additional support to the Member States' pollution response mechanisms in a cost efficient way, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has built up, in European waters, a Network of contracted Stand-by [...]

Newsletter February 2015

09.02.2015

Newsletter February 2015

In this issue: Lisbon agency heads meet European Parliament president Martin Schulz; EMSA lends support to MAOC-N over anti-drug trafficking action; Marisa N is now supporting pollution response in the Adriatic Sea; New ESSF subgroup [...]

National Single Window Prototype - an electronic solution for simplifying administrative procedures

02.02.2015

National Single Window Prototype - an electronic solution for simplifying administrative procedures

The National Single Window (NSW) aims to simplify the administrative burden by providing a place where all maritime information is reported once by ship data providers, at either national or port level, and made available [...]

Newsletter January 2015

06.01.2015

Newsletter January 2015

In this issue: THETIS inspection database now covers sulphur directive; SafeSeaNet: reporting of accurate HAZMAT information; Latest overview of marine casualties and incidents now available; New contracts for stand-by oil spill response vessels.

Annual Overview of Marine Casualties and Incidents 2014

18.12.2014

Annual Overview of Marine Casualties and Incidents 2014

The Annual Overview of Marine Casualties and Incidents consists in a high-level analysis of accidents reported by the EU Member States in European Marine Casualty Information Platform (EMCIP). This first edition relates to accidents that happened [...]

Newsletter December 2014

05.12.2014

Newsletter December 2014

In this issue: Administrative Board sets priorities for 2015 & 2016; Manuela Tomassini new Head of Safety and Standards; Stronger cooperation with DG ECHO over maritime emergencies; Ebola virus monitoring continues.

Recently Updated