The Agency provides technical, operational and scientific assistance to the European Commission and Member States in the fields of maritime safety, maritime security, prevention of, and response to, pollution caused by ships as well as response to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations.
The Agency also contributes to the overall efficiency of maritime traffic and maritime transport and supports European cooperation on coastguard functions.
EMSA's activities can be broadly described as:
providing technical and scientific assistance to the Member States and the European Commission in the proper development and implementation of EU legislation on maritime safety, security, prevention of pollution by ships and maritime transport administrative simplification;
monitoring the implementation of EU legislation through visits and inspections;
improving cooperation with and between Member States;
building capacity of national competent authorities;
providing operational assistance, including developing, managing and maintaining maritime services related to ships, ship monitoring and enforcement;
carrying out operational preparedness, detection and response tasks with respect to pollution caused by ships and marine pollution by oil and gas installations;
at the request of the European Commission, providing technical operational assistance to non-EU countries around relevant sea basins.