BfR-Wissenschaft 
9 
3 Current position of German spill managers regarding dispersant use 
Jens Rauterberg 
Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (HK), Cuxhaven, Germany 
The Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME) is a joint institution of the German 
Federal Government and the Federal Coastal States. It was established to set up and carry 
out a mutual maritime emergency management in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea. It is 
based in Cuxhaven (Northwest Germany). In cases of severe oil spills the CCME takes over 
the command for all spill response operations at sea and at the shoreline. In such cases, the 
CCME would have to take the decision to use dispersants or not, supported by the local 
competent authority. 
Historical Development 
The discussion about the use of dispersants reaches back to the oil spill of the Torey Canyon 
in 1967 near Lands End, UK. The use of very toxic industrial detergents aiming to promote 
the dispersion of the spilled oil led to huge damage to the marine environment. Therefore the 
use of first generation dispersants was not considered in the spill response strategy in Ger 
many. 
In the late eighties some research around the dispersants of the second generation was 
done. The results were not very promising because of the limited effectivity and the high tox 
icity of the dispersant itself. The use of dispersants was therefore not recommended here in 
Germany by the Federal Ministry of Transport. The main priority was given to the mechanical 
recovery of the oil from the water surface with specialized ships and technical equipment. 
At the end of the nineties the earlier findings were confirmed by the Federal Ministry of 
Transport. The use of dispersants was not part of the contingency measures for oil spill re 
sponse, even though the dispersants of the 3 rd generation were less toxic and more efficient. 
Only one exception was foreseen for very large oil spills, but no dispersants and dispersants 
spray equipment was purchased. In this case, Germany would have asked for support from 
the neighbouring countries. For the Baltic Sea, Germany followed the FIELCOM recommen 
dation not to use dispersants in this area. 
Current spill fighting concept 
Germany reconsidered the use of dispersants in 2007, with newer dispersants of the 3 rd gen 
eration available and the experiences from neighbouring countries. These dispersants have 
a higher effectivity and less toxicity. In the new concept Germanys territorial waters were 
divided in three zones depending on the water depth (Figure 3.1).