An investigative report by Lighthouse estimates that 3,000 vessels discharge mineral oil into European waters annually – the equivalent to eight spills per day, each the size of 750 football fields.

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has spent millions of euros creating an elaborate system, CleanSeaNet, that aims to monitor and prevent bilge dumping at sea using radar technology. The system is smart, but according to Lighthouse it is toothless as it relies on member states for enforcement. Freedom of Information requests showed how response rates vary widely between EU member states but are generally low. Data from 2019 demonstrated that only 1.5% of all potential spills are verified by member states within a critical three-hour time span. The system is currently under review after an EU commission assessment found it “not optimally used or coordinated.”

Bilge dumping is the name given to the release of untreated oily waste-water produced by vessels onto the sea. As well as oil it contains hazardous metals and chemicals – a potential environmental crime. Lighthouse set out to know what was happening in partnership with the environmental watchdog Skytruth and detected hundreds of potential bilge dumps in European waters since mid-2020.

Bilge dumps do not tend to receive the same attention as large industrial spills because they are smaller and less visible, but experts argue the frequency with which they are happening is having a big effect on marine life. A 2016 study on short-lived oil spills found “immediate adverse biological effects” on marine life, including a decline in numbers of plankton in the sea.

To read more from Lighthouse click here

For an article in the Guardian click here