Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Investments, Transport

Most of the funding for constructing and equipping of the vessel will be provided by the European Regional Development Fund. The Estonian State will contribute nearly 80 million kroons. According to current plans, the ship should be completed by the year 2013.

“The increase in the pollution incidents in Estonian waters demonstrate that the national pollution abatement capacity needs to be developed – the neighbouring countries cannot always provide their help in dealing with pollution,” noted the Police and Border Guard Board on Monday, emphasising that in cases of oil pollution, the reaction time is of crucial importance as once the pollution reaches the shores the damages on the environment would be several times bigger.

The head of the border guard department of the Police and Border Guard Board Tõnu Hunt noted that a new vessel is important in order to guarantee Estonia’s capacity to liquidate and prevent marine pollution. “Currently, we are using a pollution abatement ship that is nearly half a century old while the increase in the ship traffic frequency has contributed to potential risks for the environment as well as caused the need to carry out constant environmental monitoring,” he explained.