 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
SAFGOF - Evaluation of traffic increase in the Gulf of Finland 2007-2015 and the effect of the increase on the environment and traffic chain activities Kotka Maritime Research Centre (KMRC) coordinated the three year project SAFGOF - Evaluation of the traffic increase in the Gulf of Finland during the years 2007-2015 and the effect of the increase on the environment and traffic chain activities. The total project budget was 2.2 million euros. The project was partly funded by the European Union. The project was coordinated by KMRC. The various tasks of the project were lead by the leading scientists of KMRC: Professor Sakari Kuikka (University of Helsinki), Research Director Jorma Rytkönen (Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences), Professor Ulla Tapaninen (University of Turku) and Professor Pentti Kujala (Aalto University School of Science and Technology). Maritime traffic in the Gulf of Finland has increased remarkably during the last years and it is expected to increase further during the coming years. It is expected that the increase will also considerably improve the economics in South-East Finland, which will also improve the economic income of the people living in the area. Unfortunately, the growing maritime traffic will also increase the environmental risks through direct environmental effects and rising accident risk. The increase of maritime traffic can also affect the general security by means of criminal activities. The project SAFGOF aimed to study in a cross-disciplinary manner, how the traffic patterns were estimated to change in the Gulf of Finland by the year 2015. Based on these estimates, the effects on risk levels for ship collisions and groundings were studied. Once the traffic pattern estimates were evaluated, the environmental effects of traffic were also studied. The project SAFGOF utilized as input the results obtained during the years 2006-2007 in the projects MS GOF – Maritime Safety in the Gulf of Finland and TRANSGOF – Transport and Logistics in the GOF. In addition, the results of the OILECO project (2005-2007) were used as background data. OILECO included studies related to analysis of the sea nature under oil pollution and how to mimimise the undesired effects to nature in the Gulf of Finland after an oil spill. |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
