The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) is tasked to contribute to the enhancement of the overall maritime safety system within the European Union. One of its goals is to reduce the risk of marine pollution and to assist Member States in tracing illegal discharges at sea using satellite monitoring.

The European Directive 2005/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on ship-source pollution and on the introduction of penalties and infringements, which entered into force in September 2005, elaborated the Agency's task with respect to supporting Member States activities in the field of monitoring marine oil spills. Specifically the Directive requires the Agency to "work with the Member States in developing technical solutions and providing technical assistance in relation to the implementation of this Directive, in actions such as tracing discharges by satellite monitoring and surveillance".

Accordingly, EMSA has developed the CleanSeaNet service, a satellite based monitoring system for marine oil spill detection and surveillance in European waters. The service provides a range of detailed information including oil spill alerts to Member States, rapid delivery of available satellite images and oil slick position.

This web-site provides detailed information on the CleanSeaNet service, on satellite detection and monitoring of oil spills and gives access to the service to registered users:

 http://cleanseanet.emsa.europa.eu/