The European Network for waterborne Law-Enforcement
AQUAPOL STRATEGY
2015-2018
A vision for more secure, safe and environmentalfriendly waterborne transport in Europe.
AQUAPOL STRATEGY 2015-2018
Background:
Waterborne transport is a vital function for the liberated and borderless (transport) market of Europe.
In potential it is a secure, safe and environmental-friendly way of transport. But not by itself. Transport
by ship (and container) often facilitates the types of crime, mentioned in the “DGHOME EU Policy
Cycle”, such as Illegal migration, human trafficking, smuggle of drugs, arms and other goods,
environmental crime and illegal employment/labour abuse. Also the breach of safety- and
environmental rules in the domain of shipping causes considerable risks for our society. Therefore the
level of security, safety and environmental protection in relation to waterborne transport heavily
depends on robust law- enforcement , that can function cross-border. Waterborne transport operates
in a borderless Europe (inland shipping) as well as world-wide (maritime shipping). Law-enforcement
authorities are way behind on the developments in relation to the disappearance of borders in Europe
and on the liberated transport market, and therefore on the criminals that make use of these
developments. This causes considerable risks for security, safety and for the environment. It also
causes a big risk for the integrity of the transport industry itself. Simply said: “For waterborne transport
in Europe the borders have disappeared; for law enforcement the borders still exist”. This problem is
ever increasing by new initiatives of the EU, aiming at more flexible and efficient transport. In order to
keep the system in balance (economic- vs. security- and safety interests) law enforcement must also
be organized in a more cross-border manner, sharing knowhow, intelligence and operational
information. AQUAPOL was established in 2002 and is fully dedicated to the process of enhancing
cross-border law-enforcement cooperation in the domain of waterborne transport in Europe.
Vision:
AQUAPOL’s vision is for a more secure, safe and environmental-friendly
waterborne transport in Europe by enhancing cross- border law-enforcement
cooperation, with a special focus on a number of priorities from the DGHOME EU
policy cycle and the EMPACT-program.
Mission Statement:
AQUAPOL’s Mission Statement:
AQUAPOL ‘s goal is a more secure and safe waterborne transport in Europe by
establishing cross-border law-enforcement on the inland- and the maritime
waterways of Europe and in the ports. AQUAPOL also aims at protection of the
environment by fighting illegal practices in relation to transport of waste, illegal
practices in relation to fuel blending (mixing up fuel with chemical waste) and by
fighting criminal actions in relation to pollution of the seas.
The AQUAPOL organization acts as a platform for learning and exchange of good
practice for waterborne law-enforcement in Europe and it coordinates cross-border
operational control activities of its 19 member organizations from 11 EU countries
and from Switzerland. AQUAPOL provides its members with digital expert systems,
that effectively support and improves control of foreign barges all over Europe
(TDW, AQUATRACK). AQUAPOL also operates databases for cross-border
sharing of control information of its members in the domains of inland shipping
(IBISWEB) and maritime shipping (MARPOLWEB and MARSECWEB).
On behalf of the member organisations AQUAPOL establishes and maintains
contacts with relevant governmental organisations and private stakeholders at the
international and/or European level.
A brief introduction to AQUAPOL and its work:
In 2014 and 2015 The AQUAPOL organization was reformed in order to adapt it to the latest
developments and in order to make it possible to run the organization without financial support of the
EU. In the previous years, AQUAPOL activities, including the cross border control operations, were
carried out jointly by all members.
In 2015 it was decided that is was more effective and efficient to carry out the operational activities in a
“regional context” (so-called HUB’s) , while at the same time long-time strategy and policies,
coordination between the HUBS, management of the AQUAPOL website and connected control
databases (IBISWEB, MARPOLWEB, MARSECWEB) and expert systems (TDW, AQUATRACK) , as
well as lobby at EU level remained to be dealt with at the central level of the organization.
The new organization model allows AQUAPOL to work more effective and at a very low cost level. The
Council of the Heads of Service remains the steering body of AQUAPOL. The president, one of the
Council members (rotating system), chairs the Council meetings. The Director and his/hers assistant
are responsible for the day-to-day management and the external contacts at EU level.
The chairs of the 3 HUBS (Council members) are responsible for managing the operational activities in
their respective HUBS. President and Director are responsible for good coordination between the
HUBS.
On 1-1-2016 AQUAPOL has three regional groups of cooperating members (HUBS):
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Maritime HUB North Sea/Atlantic:
Maritime HUB Atlantic/West-Mediterranean:
Inland Navigation HUB for the Rhine:
AQUAPOL is about inter-disciplinary, bottom-up cross-border lawenforcement co-operation and focuses on a maximum of activity and a
minimum of bureaucracy.
In order to achieve its goals, AQUAPOL:
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brings together the Heads of Service of the 18 member organizations on a regular
basis.
brings together the members of the 3 HUBS.
organizes good-practice seminars, focussed on cross border cooperation.
organizes training, focussed on cross border cooperation.
organizes cross-border exchanges of staff/experts.
operates a website: aquapol-police.com.
issues manuals and good practice information.
operates a database for transport-over-water related documents(TDW).
Operates a positioning system for vessels, which is connected to the 3 AQUAPOL
control databases (AQUATRACK).
operates a database for cross-border exchange of control information of inland
vessels (IBISWEB).
operates a database for cross-border exchange of control information of
criminal practices in relation to pollution of the seas (MARPOLWEB).
operates a database for cross-border exchange of control information of
security checks on sea vessels in sea ports (MARSECWEB).
initiates and supports projects and pilots to enhance the cross-border exchange of
(operational) information between its members.
organizes inter-disciplinary cross-border control operations (MACO concept).
Works closely together with EU-institutions, EU-agencies and other (public and
private) external stakeholders.
Priorities for the period 2015-2018 :
A number of challenges have been identified and have been given priority for the period 2015-2018 by
the AQUAPOL member organizations. These challenges focus on giving more priority to security and
fighting crime - without neglecting the more traditional safety tasks - by a more clever combination of
safety- and security/criminality controls in the daily work. During the years 2013/2014 AQUAPOL has
invested a lot in making its members more aware of the big - so far largely unused - potential they
have in the domain of security/fighting crime. The members have a lot of knowledge about the world of
waterborne transport (which crime squads and other law-enforcement agencies in general do not
have). They see and hear a lot and they can combine their traditional safety controls rather easily with
security/fighting crime related elements. But for this they need to develop a broader view and they also
need to establish a form of cooperation with other law-enforcement services, such as customs,
immigration, labour inspections etc. AQUAPOL has put a lot of energy in establishing structured
contacts with external law-enforcement (and other) partners and in supporting the process of interdisciplinary cooperation on the ground. The Multi-Agency Control Operation (MACO) concept was
introduced and more and more control operations of the AQUAPOL members are carried out in
cooperation with other law-enforcement agencies.
Contacts with external stakeholders were developed further and the AQUAPOL activities were brought
more in line with the priorities of the EU in relation to fighting crime. This was done without neglecting
the safety oriented tasks of the members, because it became more and more clear, that in the daily
work security/fighting crime and safety cannot be separated and also should not be separated.
Through the knowledge and the controls in the domain of safety one is able to detect the weak spots
of the system in relation to security and crime. But one needs a broader view, sometimes a slightly
different attitude and some additional knowledge, information and contacts. AQUAPOL has invested
and will keep investing in providing for this.
As already mentioned AQUAPOL will become better connected to the EMPACT-program. AQUAPOL
is also investing in transferring knowledge to national crime squads and EU agencies like EUROPOL
and FRONTEX. This is required, because the registration of crime in the domain of waterborne
transport is under-developed. The registered information often does not refer to the waterborne
environment in which the crime was committed and therefore this information disappears in more
general criminal statistics. Over the last few years pilots like the EU DARIF Project (law-enforcement
cooperation along the Danube river) have clearly shown, that national crime squads and EUROPOL
are not able to give an “intelligence picture” that can effectively support the fight against the crime, that
is hidden in the waterborne transport system. One of the reasons is a lack of knowledge of the crime
squads and of EUROPOL about the waterborne environment and of the working processes in ports.
By improved cross-border and inter-disciplinary cooperation between the involved law-enforcement
agencies far better results could be reached in the fight against crime. Paying a contribution to such
cooperation is AQUAPOL’s main target.
Priorities in the domain of Inland Shipping:
The following priorities were identified:
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Improved enforcement in relation to the waterborne transport of hazardous
goods.
Improved enforcement in relation to the rather wide-spread criminal practices
in the field of illegal employment and labour abuse.
Improvement of the detection of forged documents, with a special focus on
illegal employment and labour abuse; further development and
implementation of the AQUAPOL TDW system.
Improvement of the existing cooperation with other law-enforcement
agencies, based on the concept of the Multi-Agency Control Operation
(MACO). The integration of security/fighting crime elements, such as for
instance trafficking of drugs and arms, human trafficking and illegal
migration, in all AQUAPOL control operations.
Putting the issue of “stability of vessels” on the agenda of the inland shipping
industry and its representative bodies, since instability has been the cause of
a number of very serious accidents.
Developing new ways of more effective enforcement of navigation rules and
other safety-oriented rules, by developing and implementing innovative
technologies, such as AQUATRACK.
Continue to advise the European Commission, the Rhine Commission and
national governments in relation to the ongoing implementation of a new EU
legislative framework for inland shipping, replacing the present patchwork of
regional, national and bilateral legislative arrangements.
 Detection of environment-related criminal activities, such as illegal import
and export of waste and criminal practices in relation to blending of fuel for
vessels (mixing up fuel of vessels with chemical waste).
AQUAPOL will deal with these challenges in the domain of inland shipping by discussing standards for
control practices, by dissemination of good-practice in seminars and training and by cross-border
exchange of experts. In its MACO control operations AQUAPOL will focus on these priorities.
AQUAPOL will gear its inland shipping activities with external stakeholders, like for instance the
European Commission, the Rhine Commission, with EU agencies and with private stakeholders in the
domain of inland shipping.
Priorities in the domain of Maritime Shipping:
The following priorities were identified:
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Fight against pollution of the seas, caused by illegal discharges of sea
vessels. Implementation of a better selection process for MARPOL controls
by AQUATRACK.
Dissemination of know-how and information of criminal practices in relation
to blending of fuel for sea vessels. This very lucrative criminal practice, that
comes down to illegally mixing-up fuel for sea vessels with the most
dangerous chemical waste is still rather unknown amongst law-enforcement
agencies in the EU. According to the latest scientific reports of several
universities this type of crime causes serious safety risks for maritime
shipping and very serious risks for public health (extreme air pollution).
Improvement of the existing cooperation with other law-enforcement
agencies, based on the concept of the Multi-Agency Control Operation
(MACO).
The implementation of security checks, focusing on human being trafficking,
illegal immigration, smuggle of persons and goods and terrorism on sea
vessels in sea ports. Enhancement of the selection of vessels by
AQUATRACK.
Detection of illegal import and export of waste by container inspections.
AQUAPOL will deal with these priorities in the domain of maritime shipping by dissemination of goodpractice in seminars and training and by cross-border exchange of experts. In its control operations
AQUAPOL will focus on these priorities. AQUAPOL will implement a third digital control database for
cross-border exchange of information in relation to security checks on sea vessels in sea ports
(MARSECWEB). Just like IBISWEB and MARPOLWEB, also MARSECWEB will be connected to the
AQUAPOL AQUATRACK positioning system for vessels.