China is to host a maritime security exercise in the East China Sea next month, the Maritime Safety Administration said on Wednesday.  

"The exercise, to be held on July 7, will focus on assistance and salvage in maritime accidents, anti-terrorism operations at sea and disposal of oil spills in collision cases," said Qiu Ming, a press official from the maritime safety authority.

More than 40 vessels and four maritime helicopters will be used in the exercise, as well as Japanese and South Korean vessels, Qiu said.

Maritime exercises are held every year, but this year's maneuver will be the "largest one of its kind," according to Qiu.

Officials from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be invited as observers.

"The exercise is also part of the partnership between China and ASEAN members in maritime transport," Qiu said.

Both sides agreed last November to further strengthen their alliance in infrastructure construction, transport facilitation and maritime safety and security.

"Aimed at improving the efficiency of marine rescue forces, the exercise will help intensify the regional partnership to ensure maritime safety and security," Qiu said.

Currently, China has around 2,000 professional maritime rescue and salvage workers, but commercial and fishing vessels are also an important part of the search and salvage force.

With oil transportation by sea increasing each year, so, too, does the risk of maritime accidents.

On April 4, a Portuguese oil tanker carrying about 120,000 tons of crude oil from Yemen hit a rock and was stranded off Dalian Port in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Thanks to the quick response of the local maritime safety bureau, the Portugal-registered Arteaga, a 273.4-meter-long, 43.2-meter-wide crude oil tanker, was salvaged and the incident caused no serious pollution.

According to official statistics, more than 100 million tons of crude oil are transported by sea every year, and more than 200 oil tankers ply the country's seaways every day.

"China is planning to set up a compensation fund to guarantee that the cost will be paid for cleaning up possible oil spills from vessel collision accidents," Qiu said.

An international forum will be held in Shanghai two days before the exercise, during which government officials and experts will discuss how to finance the fund and how to allocate the money, he added.

According to international practice, ship owners and cargo consignors pay damages for any pollution that results from oil spills.

Currently, China lacks a mechanism to deal with compensation in the event of an oil spill.

(China Daily June 16, 2005)