Executive summary of the main conference
Strand 1 : Policies, regulations, technological innovations & operational means: progress made in terms of maritime safety since Safer Seas 2007.
Since 2007, oil spills from shipwrecks have seemed to be marking time, which may attest to some progress in the field. At the same time, it shows the raised awareness of new challenges in the transport of hazardous materials or of the development of passenger traffic...
However, it is another sector, that of offshore oil production that was thrust violently into the spotlight, with the explosion of an oil platform and the large-scale pollution of the Gulf of Mexico this engendered. That event has raised new questions and stakes, which confirm the idea that the seeking of more effective regulations and the commissioning of many systems to control and monitoring global shipping must be continued. (Session 1)
Systems to control and monitor shipping, as well as the marine pollution response system rely on developing technological tools. On the European level, much progress can be noted since 2007, under the impetus of EMSA whether it be for regulations (broadening the ranges of vessels, particularly fishing boats, which must be equipped with AIS) or tools (developing networks like SafeSeaNet, CleanSeaNet, implementation of the EU's LRIT, etc.). In addition, other changes in terms of signaling (e.g., lighthouses) are emerging. (Session 2)
Rescue at sea remains a subject in the news: fishermen, merchant seamen and yachtsmen - as well as illegal immigrants who are victims of smugglers - must still be rescued, in temperate waters as well as tropical ones for the French overseas DOM TOM territories. Development underway and to come in new regions, particularly in the Arctic, have revived attention to rescue operations coordinated by different services with different participants whose practices can be compared. (Session 3)
Strand 2 : Maritime security policies of tomorrow, faced with climate change and challenges.
Never has the attention given to the marine environment been as great, having been reasserted in maritime policies, particularly in the Blue Paper of the European Integrated Maritime Policy, and strengthened in recent years, notably due to the very significant place given in the media to climate change and the energy source challenge.
The impact of global warming is all the more noticeable in the Polar regions. Safer Seas will devote very special attention to the Arctic, because of the potential it holds for exploitation of resources as well as the perspectives for new sea routes. This point raises numerous economic and environmental questions. (Session 4)
Those involved in ship design and ship building are working on the "ship of the future" which must be a "clean, economical and safe vessel". It will have to reduce its discharges of oily water and waste waters, its ballast water which can contain invasive species, its green house gas emissions, while reducing its fuel consumption, and in the near future, its noise pollution. To do so, using new energy sources, designing new propulsion processes and developing "smart" navigational aids must be envisaged. For this approach, information technologies will play an absolutely determining role . (Session 5)
This environmental awareness equally concerns port cities. At all latitudes, impacts can be expected in territorial management and particularly in designing harbors which will have to take account of factors which are still poorly known, such as the rise in sea level and increasingly strong and frequent disturbances induced by climate change. In any case, it deals with the conception of the sustainable port, considering all its aspects and functions. From main international port cities to smaller ones, be it in civil or military ports, marinas, fishing harbors or commercial ports, changes have been initiated. The diversity of these answers and experiences probably prefigures the Port of tomorrow. (Session 6)
Strand 3 : Geo-strategic context and maritime security: sensitive issues.
In a transition from with previous session, the imperatives of maritime security have strongly marked the past few years, especially in harbor zones where the fear of terrorist attacks have led to practices of securing quays or zones, which can sometimes go against some cities' wishes to open up this component of their urban environment. (Session 7)
However, it is at sea that current events in recent years have revived the attention, with combating illegal fisheries and above all piracy on the high seas, previously only concerning coastal areas (e.g., the Strait of Malacca, Western Africa, etc.) as well as the development of drug smuggling which is also taking place offshore. While in European waters, surveillance of smuggling linked to illegal immigration remains most prevalent, the development of these new trends creates new challenges in terms of maritime security, for ships operating in open seas and for the authorities who must resolve them. (Session 8)
