The German government is looking into licensing dispersants for combating marine oil spills away from the coastline, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said on Thursday.
To date, the use of dispersants is permitted only in exceptional cases, according to Lemke, who was visiting the maritime emergencies command centre in Cuxhaven on the North Sea coast. The centre is responsible for emergencies on the North Sea and on the Baltic Sea.
Dispersants were currently licensed along the North Sea coast within territorial waters reaching 12 nautical miles from the coastline, but not beyond, Lemke said.
The Environment Ministry was currently working with agencies on an amendment allowing use in the Exclusive Economic Zone, which generally reaches 200 nautical miles from the coast.
When using dispersants in the zone, harm and benefits would need to be balanced, Lemke said.
Dispersants break up oil slicks into smaller droplets. According to an Environment Ministry spokesman, this can help certain animals, such as birds, but can also have long-term consequences.
"It damages marine organisms. It can cause relevant damage, and for this reason it is right that it is used under restriction," Lemke said. Dispersants are to be used only when taking up the oil by mechanical means is impossible.
Oil and gas transports by sea have increased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with a resultant increase in the risk of accident.
Cuxhaven command centre head Robby Renner welcomed the possible change. While the issue was extremely sensitive, it could help protect coastal waters from an oil disaster, he said.