More than 20 organisations in countries surrounding the North Sea are involved in the Safety at Sea project managed by the Norwegian Coastal Administration. The objective is to stimulate the national, regional and local governments to cooperate to find common strategies and best available methodologies and practises to reduce the risk and impact of accidents.

Maritime safety is a crucial issue on the international agenda and specifically in the North Sea due to the increasing traffic, recent accidents and new developments within offshore wind farms. In order to face the challenges in a trans-national perspective, the Safety at Sea project was established.

Some of the results expected from the project are; an updated risk assessment of oil transport in the North Sea region, new and innovative use of AIS technology to improve navigation, improved procedures for oil spill preparedness, risk assessment of forecasted offshore wind farms, improved decision support for marine rescue coordination centres and finally increased knowledge about safety measures for small and high speed crafts in the North Sea.

The project is co-financed by the European Community and has a total budget of about 5 million euros. The 3-year project was officially kicked off in September 2004. The project will result in a policy paper containing recommendations on harmonisation of best practice safety measures in the countries around the North Sea.