Green light for Med pollution alliance.

(From Lloyds List)

Byline: Autumn launch date for Osram after months of in-fighting and departure of some founding members, writes John McLaughlin

MORE than a year after the announcement of an ambitious new pollution-fighting taskforce for the Mediterranean, the initiative finally appears to be moving forward with leading participants expecting an effective launch date this autumn.

Sources close to the project say that the Oil Spill Response Alliance for the Mediterranean has now been officially registered, and that 'all those willing to participate in the standardisation of oil spill response' will be invited to sign on at a meeting in London in September.

At the same time, the disagreements and differences of emphasis among the private operators backing the project that have dogged its steps for more than 12 months may yet stall its progress further.

When first announced in July of last year, Osram was backed by seven marine pollution response companies in the region, their aim to create a unified oil spill response capability focused particularly on the heavily trafficked eastern Mediterranean.

The seven founder members from Italy, Spain, Malta, Cyprus, Greece Turkey and Egypt agreed at a meeting in Sharm el Sheikh to set up a 40-vessel rapid-response force capable of responding effectively in the event of a spill.