In the event of incidents or accidents at sea as referred to in Article 17, Member States shall take all appropriate measures consistent with international law, where necessary to ensure the safety of shipping and of persons and to protect the marine and coastal environment.

Annex IV sets out a non-exhaustive list of measures available to Member States pursuant to this Article.

The operator, the master of the ship and the owner of the dangerous or polluting goods carried on board must, in accordance with national and international law, cooperate fully with the competent national authorities, at the latter's request, with a view to minimising the consequences of an incident or accident at sea.

F1To this end they shall communicate to the competent national authorities, on request, the information referred to in Article 12.

The master of a ship to which the provisions of the ISM Code are applicable shall, in accordance with that Code, inform the company of any incident or accident, as referred to in Article 17(1), which occurs at sea. As soon as it has been informed of such a situation, the company must contact the competent coastal station and place itself at its disposal as necessary.

In accordance with their national law, Member States shall take into account the relevant provisions of the IMO guidelines on the fair treatment of seafarers in the event of a maritime accident in the waters under their jurisdiction.