The Danish Maritime Authority’s annual report for 2011 has just been published.

Secretary General of the Danish Maritime Authority Andreas Nordseth says:

“2011 was the year when the efforts made by the Danish Maritime Authority for many years to reduce CO2 emissions from ships bore fruit with the IMO’s adoption of the agreement on energy-efficient ships. I find that very satisfying. On the other hand, we did not succeed in getting sufficient support in the IMO for the Danish proposal on a global, binding fuel contribution and therefore the long, tough haul in this field continues.

2011 was also a year when safe navigation in the Arctic regions and the safety of small fishing vessels took up much time, as did the serious accident on Præstø Fjord. This demonstrated the need for the Danish Maritime Authority to constantly focus on enhanced safety.

The number of occupational accidents decreased, but however we did not rank among the top- five countries on the Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU white lists, which was the Danish Maritime Authority’s goal for 2011. This stresses the importance of continuing our close cooperation with the industry to ensure that ships flying the Danish flag are characterized by high quality.

Last but not least, 2011 also witnessed changes in the Danish Maritime Authority’s responsibilities and organization. Now, quality shipping is not only about the ships, their crews and the framework conditions of shipping, but also about safe waters and aids to navigation. It will be exciting and the Danish Maritime Authority looks forward to new synergies and challenges.”