Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to take steps to ensure enforcement of environmental laws for sea vessels in (a) UK territorial waters and (b) the Exclusive Economic Zone in the context of reports of Russian shadow oil fleets and the standards of ships involved.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department already has robust measures in place to ensure the enforcement and compliance of environmental laws for all sea vessels in UK territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone, including the Russian shadow fleet.
The UK is a signatory to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), which is the main convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. The UK applies MARPOL requirements to applicable UK ships wherever they are in the world - and to foreign vessels when in UK waters.
To ensure vessels are complying with the MARPOL convention within UK territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone, satellites and fix wing surveillance aircraft can be used to identify possible incidences of pollution and consequent environmental risks.
Intelligence is also received through the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Inspection regime on vessels suspected of pollution when they enter a Paris MoU port. This information is used to help enforce environmental laws in the UK.