In order to follow-up the commitments on co-operation on aerial surveillance within the Baltic Sea area, and to provide an overview of the situation in the region, the HELCOM Secretariat compiles annually data on illegal discharges observed in the Baltic Sea area during national and joint co-ordinated aerial surveillance activities. The Data can be viewed in HELCOM Map and Data Serviceand HELCOM Illegal oil discharges map viewer.
The annual HELCOM reports focus on detected spills of mineral oil and only takes into account detections from fixed-wing aircraft. Thus, the figures may differ from reports also taking into account detections from from i.a. helicopters or ships and other kinds of pollution.