RAMA is a 2-year project (04/2004 - 04/2006) executed by two Belgian partners,
Ecolas NV (Environmental Consultancy Agency)and the
Maritime Institute (University of Ghent),
and financed by the
SPSD II research program, specific actions, of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office.
RAMA aims to assess the environmental risks of spills by commercial shipping activities on the Belgian Part of the North Sea.
Shipping patterns, transports of dangerous goods, probability of risks and the potential impact of incidents will be assessed.
The risk analysis within this project studies both the chances of an accident happening and the environmental impacts in case of an accident.
The valorisation of the RAMA project will result in a thorough analysis of the current status of the shipping at the North Sea in relation to
the issue of safety. The scope of the project will however go beyond the mere result of a fundamental risk analysis of the commercial shipping at
the North Sea. It is also aiming at the formulation of recommendations to improve the safety level for the environment and at an optimisation of
response in the framework of the Belgian "North Sea Disaster Plan".
