The SafeMed II Project (2009-2011) has been extended by a year, expanding its timeframe till the end of 2012. This extension of the EU-financed regional SafeMed II Project, implemented by the Malta-based Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC), was formally endorsed by the European Commission (EC) recently.
Within the extended framework of the SafeMed II Project, several important ongoing tasks will be continued while a number of new activities are to be implemented.
The SafeMed II Project is a regional effort to enhance Euro-Mediterranean co-operation in the field of maritime safety and security, prevention of pollution from ships and marine environmental issues. Its objective is to provide project beneficiaries with the technical advice and support required to ensure more uniform and effective implementation of international maritime conventions and rules, thereby reducing accidents and pollution at sea throughout the Mediterranean Region. The project beneficiaries are Albania, Algeria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Montenegro, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey.
New deliverables for 2012 include a Regional Workshop on Long-Range Identification and Tracking of Ships (LRIT), an updated Study on Maritime Traffic Flows in the Mediterranean Sea, various activities addressing ballast water management, and several regional and national training courses, such as a Regional Training Course on the HNS 2010 Protocol, training for Port State Control Officers in connection with the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), and training for ISM Auditors.
Further information on the SafeMed II Project can be obtained from the project’s website (www.safemedproject.org) where one can also download the latest Project’s quarterly newsletter, ‘The SafeMed Beacon’, now in its eighth edition.
Among the articles in the latest newsletter, there is up-to-date information about recent and upcoming SafeMed regional workshops, national training courses, SafeMed sponsored opportunities and firsthand accounts from SafeMed sponsored scholars.