EU Oil Maritime Transport and Consumption

Description

The Mediterranean has extensive marine traffic giving access to the Middle East (and the Suez Canal), the Black Sea and Southern Europe; much of this traffic is oil tankers. The result of such traffic is a high risk of pollution and even ecological disaster, worsened by the fact that it is a near-closed sea. It is estimated that minor to major illegal hydrocarbon releases may occur as many as10 000 times a year in the Baltic Sea The North Sea and the Baltic Sea are subject to regular aerial surveillance.