The nine signatories of the Baltic Sea Convention are all in violation of the binding international agreement, according to a new study.

Signed 20 years ago, the treaty was intended to reduce agricultural pollution of the marine environment, but new research -- published Friday in the journal Ambio -- suggests none of the nations surrounding the Baltic Sea are following through on their commitments.

The treaty mandated each signatory institute 10 reduction methods, including increasing the minimum storage capacity for manure and reducing animal densities.

For the new study, an international team of researchers analyzed legislative efforts to reduce agricultural pollution in each of the nine countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. Scientists also analyzed runoff and nutrient loading data.

The research showed none of the convention's signatories are doing enough to limit pollution and, as a result, excess runoff and nutrient loading continues to fuel harmful algal growth and eutrophication in the Baltic Sea.

Over the last century, the Baltic Sea has lost tremendous amounts of oxygen, leading to some of the world's largest marine dead zones -- areas completely devoid of marine life.

Though the latest study suggests all nine countries are in violation of the agreement, the data suggests Poland, Germany and Russia are performing the worst.

Researchers found Sweden and Estonia have done the most to reduce agricultural pollution.

"Although the Convention specifies ceilings on the amounts of nutrients that farmers may apply to their crops, ceilings are not implemented fully by any country," study co-author Mikael Skou Andersen said in a news release.

"Either nutrient ceilings are too generous, apply to only part of the territory or are entirely absent. Notably the ceiling of [55 pounds] of phosphorus per [2.5 acres] is absent in most places, even if the reduction needs are now most pressing with regard to phosphorus," said Andersen, a professor of environmental science at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Several of the pollution reduction efforts were agreed to upon the condition that farmers in Poland and the Baltic States would receive financial assistance from the European Union.

However, researchers found very little of the economic support flowing from west-to-east has been used to finance pollution reduction programs.

National funding programs for pollution reduction efforts are limited if not nonexistent in most of the countries surfing the Baltic Sea, the researchers said.

To bolster the Baltic Sea Convention and spur action by its signatories, researchers suggest concerted efforts to strengthen international institutions and geopolitical relations in the region will be vital.

"The ambiguous experience gained from efforts to control agricultural pollution of the Baltic Sea should spur further analysis of how to strengthen countries' commitments to supranational agreements," researchers wrote.

Sri Lanka facing marine disaster from burning ship: official
Negombo, Sri Lanka (AFP) May 29, 2021 - Sri Lanka is facing its worst beach pollution crisis as tonnes of plastic waste from a burning container ship wash ashore, a senior environment official said Saturday.

Fishermen have been banned from an 80-kilometre (50-mile) stretch of coast near the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl as an international firefighting operation went into a 10th day.

"There is smoke and intermittent flames seen from the ship," navy spokesman Captain Indika de Silva told AFP. "However, the vessel is stable and it is still in anchorage."

Authorities are more worried about millions of polyethylene pellets washing up on beaches and threatening fish-breeding shallow waters.

The affected seafront is known for its crabs and jumbo prawns as well as its tourist beaches.

"This is probably the worst beach pollution in our history," said Dharshani Lahandapura, head of Sri Lanka's Marine Environment and Protection Authority (MEPA).

Thousands of military and security personnel in hazmat suits are cleaning the beaches of plastic waste and other debris from the ship, which caught fire on May 20.

The impact on mangroves, lagoons and marine wildlife in the region was being assessed.

The jobs of thousands of fishermen are at risk, according to authorities, and the MEPA said a possible oil leak would only add to the devastation.

Much of the ship's cargo, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid, sodium hydroxide, lubricants and other chemicals, appeared to have been destroyed in the fire, officials said.

The X-Press Pearl caught fire as it waited to enter Colombo harbour and remains anchored just outside the port.

Authorities believe the fire was caused by a nitric acid leak that the crew had been aware of since May 11. The 25-member crew were evacuated after an explosion on the vessel.

Four Indian ships have joined Sri Lanka's navy in the battle to contain the fire. Two vessels were equipped to deal with an oil slick, officials said.

Salvage operations are being led by the Dutch company SMIT, which has sent specialist fire-fighting tugs.

SMIT was also involved in dousing a burning oil tanker off Sri Lanka's east coast last September after an engine room explosion that killed a crew member.

The fire on the New Diamond tanker took more than a week to put out and left a 40-kilometre (25-mile) long oil spill. Sri Lanka has demanded the owners pay $17 million for the clean-up.

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Fight to douse Sri Lanka ship fire could take 'days': navy chief
Colombo (AFP) May 27, 2021
An international firefighting effort to put out a huge blaze on a container ship off Sri Lanka's coast will likely take days, the country's navy chief said Thursday, amid mounting fears of a major oil leak. Nine Sri Lankan ships and three Indian vessels have been working with international salvage experts to douse the eight-day old inferno on the Singapore-registered X-Press Pearl. The vessel was carrying nearly 1,500 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid, when a fire broke out as it wa ... read more