Every event that occurs in the Belgian territorial waters and that requires emergency intervention is treated at the provincial level. At this level, the competent national authority that has the overall responsibility for oil pollution response is the Directorate-General Environment of the Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment.
Figure 8 presents the location and the coastal vessels that are prepared to respond in case of oil pollution at sea. These vessels are owned and operated by the aforementioned Ministry.
Figure 8. Vessels prepare to respond to oil spill at sea.
Source: (EMSA, 2016)
According to EMSA (2016), the Belgian Navy permanently maintains one of three vessels on stand-by at Zeebrugge to accomplish different tasks, including SAR, fisheries inspections and anti-pollution operations. The three vessels available for such duties are: A950 VALCKE, A963 STERN and A996 ALBATROS. The vessels do not have permanently anti-pollution equipment and booms on-board. Skimmers or dispersant spraying equipment would be loaded as needed.
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