Maritime Oil Spills: A Disaster in Decline

Oil Tankers: An Essential Commodity

For a world used to doomsday theories, here is a whiff of fresh, green air. Maritime oil spills have rapidly decimated in the past quarter century despite the steady increase in oil trading since the mid-1980s. 2014 recorded the lowest number of spills in the last 25 years.

Firefighting @ Oil Spill Fire

(Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/8812598/10-largest-oil-spills-in-history.html)

Since 1970, the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) records statistics on accidental oil spills from tankers, barges, and combined carriers. The ITOPF however does not maintain a database of spills caused by acts of war.

Maritime oil spills are an environmental disaster with the effects lingering on for decades. Plus they are bad for the economy and wreck havoc on the tourism industry. Regulators, government, and the industry deserve accolades for creating and maintaining high operational standards for maritime oil transport.

Our energy intensive lifestyles and industrial economies cannot run without oil. Transporting mammoth quantities of oil over great distances is a necessity. An occasional spill then is a real hazard that has materialized several times in the past century.

Statistics & Trends

Oil Spills are the release of liquid petroleum into the environment by vessels, vehicles, or pipelines. They result from human negligence and should not be confused with the negligible, natural seepage of subterranean oil and gas into the environment. Oil tankers, offshore oil platforms, and drilling rigs are common sources of spills.

Number of Large Spills (over 700 tons), 1970-2014

(Source: http://www.itopf.com/knowledge-resources/data-statistics/statistics/)

In 2014, the ITOPF recorded a total loss of about 4,000 tons of oil through five spills of seven tons and over. The figure is much lower than previous decades. Details of ITOPF-recorded incidents include:

·         One large (about 3,000 MT) bitumen spill from the sinking of a small tanker in South China Sea in January

This was the Bitu Gulf tanker. Earlier it was named Asphalt Venture and was hijacked by Somali pirates in September 2010. Sadly, its bad luck continued despite the name change

·         Four medium spills of diverse kinds of oil

Spills are classified based on the amount of oil spilled:

·         below 7 tons / 50 barrels

·         7 to 700 tons / 50 to 50,000 barrels

·         over 700 tons / 50,000 barrels

ITOPF reports that 81% spills each discharge below 7 tons. It sources the database from reports by specialists, insurers, ship-owners, and its field personnel. Information includes the vessel, amount and type of oil spilled, and spill location. Specialist publications report large spills while individual reports focus on minor incidents. 

Causes & Consequences

Between 1970 and 2014, 59% of large oil spills in open waters and 99% of spills in inland-restricted waters were caused by:

·         Collision: the crashing of a ship with a moving object

·         Allision: the crashing of a ship with a stationary ship or fixed object

·         Grounding: ship hits ground on the seabed or on the side of the waterway

Amount of Oil Spilled (7 tons and over), 1970-2014

(Source: http://www.itopf.com/knowledge-resources/data-statistics/statistics/)

Other causes include:

·         Offshore Drilling Operations

·         Hull Failure

·         Equipment Failure

·         Fire / Explosion

·         Oil Wash-Off from Land

Depending on the amount of oil spilled, location of the disaster, water temperature, winds and ocean currents, and type of beaches, cleaning the spill can take between a few weeks and some years. Knowledge of the consequences of spills is therefore important:

·         Environmental Degradation: oil is toxic. When spilled it blocks much needed sunlight from underwater plants and animals. Furthermore, it chokes and drowns many animals and birds

·         Economic Losses: dealing with oil spills diverts human and technological resources from other, possibly more important economic activities. The diversion damages the economy in many ways

Spills reduce the availability of oil for the importing economy that has to spend precious funds for further imports. Cleaning the spill costs a fortune and so does settling the health bill of cleaning personnel

·         Tourism Downturn: tourist activities such as rafting, sailing, fishing, swimming, and parachute gliding cannot be performed. Neither do oily black waters with obnoxious odors and dead birds make a great sight

Catastrophic Spills

In 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig spewed off 210 million gallons of oil in the Mexican Gulf. This remains the largest accidental spill to date. Top honors were taken by retreating Iraqi forces in 1991 who opened oil pipelines to spray 240 to 336 million gallons into the Persian Gulf to slowdown advancing American troops.

Bay of Campeche, Mexico in 1979 was the scene of a 140 million gallon accidental oil discharge from the Ixtoc 1 Oil Well. The same year saw the largest ever ship-sourced spill when the Atlantic Empress collided with another supertanker and sprayed 88.3 million gallons in the Caribbean Ocean.

Finally

Apart from oil spills, oceans today are besieged by chemical contamination, sewage pollution, and over exploitation. It is nice to know at least one source of toxin is on a downward spiral.

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