The need for increased safety of offshore oil and gas exploitation activities has been dramatically highlighted by recent accidents, most notably by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010: offshore activities in the Mediterranean are likely to increase due to the discovery of new reserves of fossil fuel, and an accident of such kind could have immediate large-scale effects on a semi-closed Sea such as the Mediterranean, causing tragic consequences for its economy and its fragile ecosystems, and undermining the efforts made by EU Mediterranean coastal Member States to achieve and maintain good environmental status i ...[+++]n their marine waters as required by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

'Ship" means a vessel of any type whatsoever operating in the marine environment and includes hydrofoil boats, air-cushion vehicles, submersibles, floating craft, fixed or floating platforms, floating storage units (FSUs) and floating production storage and off-loading units (FPSOs);

The Chair: Is that regardless of whether it is a semi-submersible or a platform rig?

We have two Transocean rigs in our jurisdiction, the two semi-submersibles.