6 
Grote - Introductory Remarks 
provide guidance for the national spill manager, the German Central Command for Maritime 
Emergencies. 
On November 12th and 13th 2015 the workshop „The use of dispersants to combat oil spills 
in Germany at sea” was held in Berlin. Experts from authorities, research institutions and 
international organizations summarized and discussed the current scientific knowledge on 
risks and benefits. It was organized by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in 
cooperation with the Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (HK), the Federal Institute 
of Flydrology (BfG), the Federal Maritime and Flydrographic Agency (BSFI), and the Inde 
pendent Group of Environmental Experts “Consequences of Pollution Accidents” at the Cen 
tral Command for Maritime Emergencies (UEG). 
This report is intended to document the status of knowledge on the potential effects and the 
trade-off of risks and benefits of dispersant use as oil spill response with a special focus on 
the situation in Germany. It provides outlines of presentations held at the two day event high 
lighting the main results and conclusions.