SOOMERE, T. and QUAK, E., 2007. On the potential of reducing coastal pollution by a proper choice of the fairway. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 50 (Proceedings of the 9th International Coastal Symposium), 678 – 682. Gold Coast, Australia, ISSN 0749.0208 Sea coasts located adjacent to fairways hosting intense ship traffic are frequently subject to major oil pollutions. Since (i) the coastal areas are generally the major life reproduction areas and (ii) combating oil pollution on open sea is generally much more effective and less expensive than at the coasts, keeping the oil spill in the open sea area usually causes the least damage. We discuss the possibilities of the choice of the fairway (or smart re-routing of the ship traffic) so that a potential oil spill will stay in the open sea area as long as possible. In certain cases a reduction of the probability of coastal pollution may be achieved with the use of intrinsic properties of dynamics of water masses. As an example of this approach, the potential use of the patterns of currents in the Gulf of Finland, as part of the Baltic Sea, is analysed. Surface currents in this area are non-persistent. Numerical experiments suggest that there is a quasi-persistent subsurface flow at the depths of about 2.5–7.5 m. The current is able to carry the pollution out of the gulf before it reaches the coasts. Outside the stream, water motion usually forms circular current cells that periodically carry the water masses close to the coast. The experience of two pollution events in 2006 suggests that the propagation pattern of the pollution qualitatively matches the estimated current patterns. Perspectives and consequences connected with solutions of this type are discussed.