ABSTRACT
The Gulf of Finland is a highly trafficked area in the Baltic Sea. Moreover, its traffic is expected to grow in the future (e.g. Hassler 2010; Kuronen et al. 2009; Ministry of Transport and Communications Finland 2009). Growing traffic increases the risk of ship groundings and collisions, which are the two most common types of maritime traffic accidents in the Gulf of Finland (Kujala et al. 2009). Especially the increasing oil tanker traffic and the possibility of a major oil accident raise concern in the coastal states.
