A few last minute tweaks and the installation of specialised equipment and the MV Mistra Bay – a Maltese operated European Maritime Safety Agency oil spill recovery vessel – will be up and running.
The MV Mistra Bay is being converted by Cassar Shipyards into a 24-hour readiness vessel that can be dispatched anywhere in the Mediterranean to deal with oil spills.
Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea, who is also responsible for maritime affairs, was taken on board the vessel along with a delegation of 80 EMSA officials who are in Malta for two separate meetings at European level: the Administrative Board of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European - Marine Accident Investigators’ International Forum (E-MAIIF).
The Mistra Bay needed maintenance work and the bow was also slightly remodelled due to its elongated shape causing problems when the ship berthed.
It is about 100-foot long and has a capacity of 3,500 cubic metres of oil in the event of a spill. It is also fully equipped for ship-to-ship transfers of oil that will allow it to remain operational for longer in the field.
The ship is operated by the Maltese company Tankship Management. It won the tender to operate the ship last November and it is now awaiting specialised equipment including skimmers and booms to combat oil spills.
Two similar contracts were also awarded in the Baltic and North Atlantic.
The concept behind the contracts is to have vessels ready to assist and supplement pollution response efforts by member states in the event of a spill. If called into action, the blue and red MV Mistra Bay will be put under the command of the member state(s) who requested its assistance.
Mr Galea said that once again, Malta and its professionals in the shipping industry were at the forefront of international maritime co-operation and the government pledged its full support to the project.
He also pointed out that his ministry had set up a local committee to deal with an oil spill should this happen in the vicinity of Malta.
Representatives from the Malta Maritime Authority, Civil Protection Department, Mepa Pollution Control Division, the Infrastructure and Resources Ministry and the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) agreed to step up cooperation to ensure that in case of an emergency, each organisation would have a specific role and the situation would be dealt with in a quick efficient manner.
Mr Galea said: “With about 80 per cent of Mediterranean marine traffic passing through the Malta-Sicily channel and about 25 per cent of the world’s oil transiting through the Mediterranean Sea, Malta had to be fully prepared to minimise the effects of an oil spill if it occur.”