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The European Commission (EC) has proposed a funding of €160.5 million over a period of seven years for the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to enable the agency to maintain its network of specialised anti-pollution vessels available to member states to recover pollutants and to further develop satellite images to detect pollution.

The aim of the proposal is to allow continued action to combat pollution caused by ships. The funds will allow a response to spills from off-shore oil and gas installations using additional specialised equipment.

The Commission stressed that EMSA will continue to work with third countries - important for the Mediterranean Sea in particular - although the funding for such activities will be outside this multiannual financial framework.

In particular, the "reserve vessels" which EMSA puts at the disposal of affected member states have state-of-the-art equipment for containing and recovering pollutants from the sea.

In parallel, the funds will be used to support the efficient system of satellite imaging that has been developed to detect pollution in good time (CleanSeaNet) and which underpins efforts by the Member States to prevent illegal discharge and accidental spillage of oil.