The Clean Ship is a ship designed and operated in an integrated manner to eliminate harmful operational discharges and emissions; it is a ship that is constructed and can ultimately be recycled in an environmentally acceptable way, and one that is energy and resource efficient in its daily operation. A Clean Ship operation maximises the opportunities for safe and environmental navigation while at the same time providing all possible safeguards in the event of an accident. It requires a shipping sector that puts safety and environmental protection first; an industry with a "safety culture" at its heart.

Seas At Risk coined the phrase “Clean Ship” and launched the concept at the fifth North Sea Conference in 2002 (Bergen, 20-21st March). Ministers embraced the idea and since then it has passed into popular parlance, with regulators and other stakeholders increasingly using the term to define and describe their ultimate objective for an environmentally benign shipping sector.

Seas At Risk welcomes this but is increasingly concerned that the concept is being used solely as an argument for more research rather than urgent regulatory action. While research and development is needed in some areas the reality is that if all shipping adopted the technologies and practices that are currently being used by the best operators then the industry would be 90% of the way to implementing a Clean Ship approach. Unfortunately the quality operators occupy a small niche in an otherwise environmentally sub-standard industry, and regulations are rarely an encouragement to high standards, normally lagging far behind current best available technologies and practices.

Seas At Risk’s work in this area is now focussing on closing this gap between regulatory standards and the best currently available technologies and practices.

After lobbying by Seas At Risk the concept was included in the European Commission's Communication on an integrated maritime policy for the European Union. A description of how the concept could be used at EU level to uncouple growth in shipping from environmental harm can be found below.

The Clean Ship Concept: A strategy for uncoupling growth in shipping from environmental harm (30/11/07).

Manifesto for Clean Shipping

Gothenburg Declaration extract dealing with the Clean Ship concept (5/5/06).

Background paper on the Clean Ship approach prepared for the Gothenburg North Sea meeting (9/9/05).

Web site with documents from the “Mind the Gap” Clean Ship seminar that preceded the Gothenburg North Sea meeting (4-5/5/06).

Seas At Risk's "Mind the Gap" seminar presentation.

Information web site for Clean Ship activities and developments.

Relevant documents from the fifth North Sea Conference (Bergen, 20-21/3/02) can be found in the archive section below.