The project aims at harmonising risk management strategies for the North Sea region and at transforming these strategies into practical methodologies for spatial planners, decision makers and operational entities dealing with safety at sea. The strategies will be put into practice in six demonstration projects, including ?classification and risk assessment of oil transport in the North Sea?, ?practical tools on risk management for offshore wind farms?, ?coastal zone management, places of refuge and preparedness? and ?decision making for a maritime rescue coordination centre.?

The project will diffuse risk management strategies, both at national level and at regional or local level. Harmonisation of these strategies across the North Sea Region is an important objective, as is the transformation of these strategies into applicable, practical methodologies for spatial planners, decision makers and operational entities dealing with safety at sea. Demonstration projects will accompany the project.

Expected Outcomes

The harmful effects of disasters will be reduced as persons and institutions involved have better risk management methods. Safety will be increased in sailing corridors while costs do not expand; an analysis will be made of coastal zones, including the risks of offshore wind energy farms and a method for determining acceptable places of refuge for vessels in need. An overview of past incidents, comprising also ?near misses? and the human errors involved, will result in better detection of potential accidents in the future. Increased awareness on the safety of both small crafts and high speed crafts is also an envisaged outcome of the project. Training programmes will be developed and delivered to ensure that the outcomes can actually be used by relevant persons.

Activities

Two Work Packages (called ?strands? in this project) overarch the project. The first strand deals with the harmonisation of risk management strategies across the North Sea countries. Current practices will be mapped, the results of the different demo projects disseminated, and at the end of the project, a training programme will be prepared and implemented. The other overarching strand covers the support of the other strands and demo projects. This includes the production of a website, the organisation of workshops and contacts with public authorities. The other three strands each incorporate two demonstration projects. These six projects are: ?Routing and Safe Seaways? - The inventory, classification and risk assessment of oil transport in the North Sea Region - Risk calculation using Applied Information Systems ?Coastal Zone Management? - Identification of possible places of refuge - Risk management in relation to Offshore Wind Farms ?Safety Awareness and Decision Making? - Compilation of an overview of past accidents and subsequent development of risk assessment tools - Increasing safety awareness, particularly in relation to small and high speed crafts

Reported Outcomes

In its third year all demo projects have been commenced and first projects finalised or about to do so. Main activity for strand 2 "Routing and Safe Seaways" has been the gathering of data. Maps of transport routes of crude oil and heavy oil to and from mayor ports in The Netherlands have been produced. 4 new interfaces are now available to the Automatic Information System (AIS) Information centre, including a web display via a GIS server. An element of a navigator system related to the handling of multiple vessels has now been finalised. Activities of strand 3 "Coastal Zone Management" have been focused on selecting places of refuge and fairways. A 6-step model has been developed for ensuring a systematic approach, including a nautical review and a final decision by the Norwegian Coastal Administration. A list of potential places has been established, which is far more extensive than already existing ones. This will be available online on the project website. S@S has contributed to a Methodology for Assessing the Marine Navigational Saftey Risks of Offshore Wind Frams in the UK. The first version of the s@s North Sea Logbook has been published as one output of strand 4 "Risk Assessment and Decision Making". Sailors can enter their experiences and observations at sea into the logbook to gather relevant information about the state of the North Sea. It, thus, involves small craft crews in collecting valuable data to improve safety and the environment at sea. During 2006 the logbook was translated into four languages through the S@S project. These translated versions were distributed through all of the North Sea countries during the North Sea Ministers Conference in Gothenburg, May 2006. On 16 July 2006, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) was opened to support the demonstration of new methodologies and technologies such as the exchange of AIS information between all North Sea Region countries. A weather buoy was deployed outside Haugesund, Norway, in May 2006. This deployment receieved considerable new coverage in the local newpaper and television. The buoy was deployed at the same position as the high speed craft 'Sleipner' was wrecked in 1999.