The Presidency for Meteorology and the Environment (PME) has revealed that it is monitoring marine pollution of Saudi territorial waters by local and international vessels. It is planning to implement international and local laws after assessing the impacts. A spokesman for the PME, Hussein Al-Qahtani, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the Presidency has specialists to monitor water and air pollution and that it has lodged several complaints against companies that polluted territorial waters including the Red Sea. He also said that the PME gets suitable financial compensations from violators. He said ‘the most prominent environmental pollution operations caused by ships and marine vessels in territorial waters is the discharge of ship oils into the sea or the discharge of water used by big ships to create a balance, aside from the damage to coral reefs caused by ships running aground.' He also pointed out that the PME is co-operating with anumber of authorities including Arab, regional and international organizations in which the PME is a permanent member. He said ‘These authorities and organizations are concerned with environmental protection from pollution caused by commercial and non-commercial ships. __
