The consequences of tanker accidents are often catastrophic, as can be vividly attested by the recent disasters of the Erika and Prestige, raising the issue of oil spills to the highest priority for the EU community. The POP&Cproject aims to address this issue head on by focusing on prevention and mitigation in ship design and operation for existing and new vessels. Specific objectives include: To develop a risk-based methodology to measure the oil spill potential of tankers To develop a risk-based passive pollution prevention methodology To develop a risk-based active post-accident pollution mitigation and control framework. The objectives will be achieved by identifying and ranking critical hazards such as collision and grounding, fire and explosion and structural failure (WP2), leading to estimates of probability of capsizing/sinking from loss of stability or structural failure (WP3, WP4), which combined with estimates of consequences within a risk-based framework will provide pollution risk (WP5). Risk reduction through preventative measures (WP6) and post-accident mitigation and control measures (WP7) will also be developed. This STREP proposal perfectly addresses the objectives of the Sustainable Surface Transport thematic priority, and in particular increasing safety of waterborne transport, through integrating technologies for driving, piloting and manoeuvring assistance to improve safety and maximise the effective capacity of the infrastructure, including the secure transportation of hazardous goods. The consortium comprises prime protagonists in the area of maritime safety in Europe and is organised to provide althea complimentary capabilities that are necessary to satisfy the project objectives. Deliverables include pollution risk methodology and assessment tools, decision support tools for pollution prevention and crisis management, and design and operational guidelines for containment of pollution risk.