ABSTRACT
Background – Copenhagen Declaration In March 2001, the Baltic Carrier and Tern collided in Kadetrenden between Denmark and Germany causing an oil spill of 2,700 tonnes of heavy fuel. A few months later, in September 2002, an extraordinary meeting of Ministers of Transport and the Environment from the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea was convened in Copenhagen and a Declaration on The Safety of Navigation and Emergency Capacity in the Baltic Sea Area (HELCOM Copenhagen Declaration) was adopted containing a large number of measures to improve the safety of navigation in the Baltic Sea and to increase response capacity to accidents. This was the Copenhagen Declaration. Due to its unique characteristics, ECDIS was identified as one of the major contributors to increased navigational safety.
