Russia has always tried to keep up to the top navigation safety standards, including by scrapping one-hull tankers, Levitin said. According to him, this is not an issue with Russia now as Russian ship owners hold what is one of the world's most sophisticated tanker fleets, with only two vessels subject to discharge after April 5, 2005.
Speaking about the proposal to declare part of the Baltic sea as Particularly Sensitive Sea Area, the minister pointed out that "Russia has always proceeded from the need to apply universal principles of international marine navigation regulations." With the sea traffic growing, Russia takes additional measures to conserve and protect environmentally vulnerable zones, he said.
Levitin voiced the Russian government's stance that the Particularly Sensitive Sea Area status should not be granted to geographically vast zones, nor to subzones that have varying natural, hydrological and biological characteristics and where various types of economic activity are carried out.
As he passed on to the issue of navigation monitoring, the minister noted that for comprehensive solutions to problems of navigation safety, environment protection, and government control, a regional security system was now being created in the Gulf of Finland. The existing routes are being improved, new lanes opened; and additional security measures taken.
According to specialists, sea traffic control systems can be particularly efficient in preventing accidents in coastal waters and protecting marine eco-systems from damage.
In his concluding remarks, Levitin pointed out that his meeting with Bendtsen was taking place in the wake of Baltic countries' fifth summit, held in Estonia last week. The Russian minister said he was hopeful that the agreements reached at the summit would give new momentum to the development of regional Baltic cooperation in a variety of areas, including in safety and security of navigation. He also expressed confidence that Russia's cooperation with Baltic nations and their positive attitude to the technical schemes used in Russian traffic control systems would enhance the efficiency of joint European efforts to provide safe and secure navigation and minimize the risk of environmental damage in the Baltic Sea.
