The Safe Med project has issued the first edition of its e-newsletter 'The Safe Med Beacon - Le Phare'.

Published in English and French, the quarterly carries features, news items and reports relating to the Safe Med project, an EU-funded Meda regional project, implemented by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea.

The 2009 edition carries news relating to recent activities, including the results of Euro Med cooperation being obtained by this project, the role of Rempec, the publication of a study on Mediterranean maritime traffic flows, awareness seminars to foster Mediterranean dialogue about maritime affairs, and student sponsorships at the World Maritime University in Sweden and IMO International Maritime Law Institute in Malta.

Safe Med is a response to the interest of the European Union to develop Euro-Mediterranean co-operation in the field of maritime safety and security, prevention of pollution from ships and marine environmental issues by providing technical advice and support to the non-EU Mediterranean countries identified in the 1995 Barcelona Process.

The objective is to mitigate the existing imbalance in the application of maritime legislation in the region between the EU member states and the Mediterranean partners. It also promotes an effective, uniform implementation of international conventions aimed at better protecting the Mediterranean from ship pollution.

With some 300,000 ports calls and more than 10,000 ships transiting the Mediterranean every year, safety of navigation and prevention of pollution in this semi-enclosed sea is a regional challenge that requires a regional solution.

The newsletter may be viewed at www.safemedproject.org/news. For more information on Rempec visit www.rempec.org.