News

04.10.22

Belgium presides ECGFF
During the closing ceremony of the European Coast Guard Functions Forum (ECGFF) summit , which was held from 5 to 7 September 2022 in Split, Belgium has taken over the chairmanship from predecessor Croatia.

The European flag was handed over to the Belgian Coast Guard chair Piet Pieters and the regional Coast Guard chair Nathalie Balcaen, both of whom exchanged information and best-practices with their colleagues around the organization of this important event.

The ECGFF is an ideally suited instrument to exchange information, share both best practices and lessons-learned, learn from jointly organized exercises, work together on common solutions and overcoming obstacles. In short it is a unique opportunity to strengthen our bonds with the coastguard organization of the European member states.

As current chair to the ECGFF, Belgium is organizing following activities in the months to come:
- a workshop in cooperation with Frontex (the European Border and Coast Guard Agency). This is important in the framework of a common policy for transmigrant issues.
- a workshop in cooperation with EMSA (European Maritime Safety Agency) covering a wide array of topics such as maritime sustainability, security and the Green Deal.
- a meeting of the working group Cyber Security to look into depth in all issues regarding digital safety and cyber-attacks.
- a workshop "use of evidences obtained through modern technologies in Fisheries Control and Inspection" and an exercise "COASTEX 23" in cooperation with EFCA (European Fisheries Control Agency)
- a summit in cooperation withDG MARE (Directorate General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) to disscuss the results of the workshops at a strategic level and to highlight Belgian cases such as the need for an Emergency Towing Vessel and extra 'eyes' in the sky for Search & Rescue.
We want to offer the participants a chance to get to know our multi-faceted country better as well as our eleventh province, namely the North Sea.
16.06.22

Belgian airborne surveillance participates in international sea trial

From 30 May to 2 June, the Belgian aerial surveillance aircraft carried out an international mission to Brittany in France. The aircraft is owned and operated by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and is frequently used in Belgium in the framework of the Coast Guard. International missions are also on the agenda. The purpose of this mission was twofold: the aircraft took part in an international sea trial for the detection and monitoring of chemical pollution and checked with the sniffer sensor the air emissions from ships at the border of the Emission Control Area (ECA) for compliance with the international emission regulations laid down in the so-called MARPOL Annex VI.

https://odnature.naturalsciences.be/
13.01.21

Minister of North Sea helps monitor nitrogen emissions from ships at sea

On Wednesday 13 January 2021, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of North Sea Vincent van Quickenborne checked to what extent ships in the Belgian part of the North Sea comply with the applicable air pollution standards. To this end, he flew along in the Belgian Coast Guard plane, operated by our coast guard partner MUMM. Through the application of a 'sniffer' sensor in this aircraft, our country is known as a pioneer in the international fight against air pollution above the sea. The sensor allows polluting components in ship emissions to be measured in the field. Sulphur measurements have been on the programme since 2016, and since 2020 nitrogen compounds can also be detected. With this, Belgium was the first to be ready to monitor above the sea the restrictions on nitrogen emissions from ships that will apply in the North Sea from 1 January 2021.

Photos provided by MUMM/RBINS

naturalsciences.be
18.08.20

Impressive Noctiluca (Sea Sparkle) bloom in the North Sea

The past weekend, striking orange spots and strings were observed in the Belgian part of the North Sea near the Buitenratel sandbank. A sailor reported this to the Coast Guard centre (through the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre - MRCC) as a possible pollution. After inspection by various coast guard partners, Maritime and River Police, ministry of Defence and the Management Unit of the North Sea Mathematical Models (MUMM, it became clear that this was an unseen bloom of the single-celled plankton species ‘Sea Sparkle’. The warm and calm weather of the past few days is probably an important explanatory factor. The mass is already rotting, which could possibly lead to oxygen deficiency and fish mortality. It is also possible that the remains will be washed ashore on Belgian beaches during this week.

We cannot be sure that this will be the case. However, should the noctiluca wash ashore, this will be not be in one particular spot, but scattered along the whole coast since these are living organisms and the wind can change direction. We have no knowledge about distinctive foam patterns as was the case this spring with the algal blooms (ofPhaeocystis) and the tragic incident in Scheveningen in which five surfers lost their lives. These are a different sort of plankton.
Apart from some odour nuisance of rotting Noctiluca, there is no risk for bathers, swimmers or watersports enthusiasts. It is a harmless species, which will disappear of its own accord in time.

Read more on naturalsciences.be
20.05.20

Restart ferry services MDK

Our coast guard partner agency for Maritime and Coastal services (MDK) restarted the ferry services in Ostend and Antwerp.

To ensure everybody's safety, following rules apply:

Ostend ferry: face mask is obligatory for passengers of 12 years and older - maximum of 11 passengers including 4 bikes per crossing.

Sint-Anna ferry in Antwerp: face mask is obligatory for passengers of 12 years and older - maximum of 50 passengers including 10 bikes per crossing.
06.05.20

MAiDEN project report filed

For two years, a number of our coastguard partners as well as the coast guard secretariat were under the spell of the MAiDEN project. The goal of MAiDEN was to ensure a more efficient information exchange between the partners of the coast guard centre. We received EU-funding and on april 30th, we have filed our final report with EASME, the agency tasked with the monitoring of the good use of EU funding. This means that the MAiDEN project is finalized, but it is not an end point. Quite the contrary, all partners involved are committed to continue along this path. Based on the results of the MAiDEN project, we keep working on a new information management system and we look into how more coast guard partners can join.

More on MAiDEN? Read the interview or take a look at the infographic.
29.04.20

Aerial Surveillance North Sea 2019

In 2019 our coast guard partner Management Unit of the Mathematical Model of the North Sea flew a total of 246 hours on missions to observe the North Sea from the air. They do so with their own aircraft of the Britten Norman Islander type. This aerial surveillance is very useful for a number of reasons: to track down oil spills or other types of marine pollution, to contribute to a recognized maritime picture in case of a contingency at sea, to assist with fishery control and to follow-up on the number of marine mammals. Last year, MUMM operators observed 13 instances of discharges by vessels at sea, carried out important censuses of marine mammals and kept track of the activities in the offshore windparks.

Furthermore, the MUMM aircraft carried out a number of 'sniffer-flights', to see if the limits for sulphur emission are respected. The aircraft is equipped with a sniffer sensor, a sort of sulphur-sniffing device. When the aircraft flies through a plume of smoke coming from a certain vessel, the sensor measures the level of sulphur present. In case the level is too high, maritime inspection services ashore are alerted for a further follow-up. Last year, of the 1241 vessels that were inspected at sea, 51 showed suspiciously high sulphur values in their exhaust plumes. Belgium is one of the few countries performing such monitoring. For more information, see this video on the monitoring of sulphur emissions.

Last but not least, the plane successfully participated in an internationally coordinated surveillance mission of the oil and gas installations in the central part of the North Sea.
27.04.20

App letters of registration soon online again

Beginning of April 1st our coastguard partner Federal Public Service (FPS) Mobility and Transport took the online tool for applications for letters of registration and commercial plates for pleasure craft offline. This was necessary to adapt the tool to the new fees. At the end of this month, April 30th, the online tool will be reactivated.
mobilit.fgov.be
23.04.20

Aerial Base Koksijde remains vigilant

Even in the current circumstances our coast guard partners remain on stand-by and vigilant at all times.
Proof of that is furnished by our coast guard partner Defence: Aerial base Koksijde ensures that all devices are operational, as you can witness in this video.
15.04.20

Public consultation marine environment

Our coast guard partner Federal Public Service Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment would like to know how you think about the protection, conservation and rehabilitation of the marine environment.They organize a public consultation on the 'draft for updating the monitoring program for Belgium's marine waters. You can participate from April 15th to June 15th 2020 at health.belgium.be (only available in French and Dutch)