2. Marine Oily Handling Devices and Pollution Prevention Chapter 8 Lesson 1 Case 2 Marine Oil Pollution Cases Analysis

3. 8.1 Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain

4.  A leaking oil tanker split in two and sank Tuesday off Spain's northwestern coast, spewing thousands of tonnes of fuel oil into the sea and adding to a growing environmental disaster along one of Europe's most picturesque and wildlife-rich coasts.  The two halves of the 26-year-old single-skinned vessel went down in deep waters some 250 kilometers off the Galician coast, a spokesman for the Dutch maritime salvage company Smit International said, "We hope and think the majority of the oil is at the bottom of the sea in the wreck of the ship," around 3.5 kilometers beneath the surface.

5. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  The Bahamas-registered vessel, which was owned by a company registered in Liberia, was believed to have lost at least 6,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil when it sank, leaving nearly 70,000 tonnes of the original cargo left in its tanks.  It had previously leaked 4,000 tonnes since last Wedneday, when cracks began appearing in its single hull and oil slicks began washing up on Spanish shores.  Deputy Prime Minister stressed that it was "premature to say what will happen".  "First we must find out if the oil will remain in the tanks, and then we'll see," he said.  Antonio Cortes, a researcher at Spain's Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry, said: "Sinking is the best thing that could happen to the Prestige" since the cold water and pressure of the ocean basin could solidify the oil and keep it from surfacing.

6. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  But the environmental group Greenpeace sounded the alarm.  "This could become one of the worst oil catastrophes in recent decades," said Fabrizzio Fabri, scientific director of Greenpeace Italy, warning that more oil could still rise from the wreck.  Michel Girin, director of the French state agency CEDRE, which carries out research into marine pollution, said that the type of oil on the Prestige is a nightmare to tackle, since it neither evaporates nor gets broken down by the action of the sea.  "If the ship sinks it will be a source of permanent pollution for many, many years to come", said Girin, stressing that oil tankers that sank during World War II were still polluting the Pacific Ocean.  Environmentalists on site said that over 250 birds of 18 species have washed up on the shores of Galicia so far.

7. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  Flying a Bahamas flag, the 42,000-tonne vessel was being pulled by a Chinese tug in the employ of the Smit salvage company when it broke up.  Rajoy said it sank off Vigo, and was in international waters.  The Japanese-built tanker -- which appears not to have been inspected since 1999, when the ports of Rotterdam and New York both complained about security lapses -- is a single- skinned vessel, a type which the European Commission wants to phase out of operations with upgraded safety standards.

8. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  Fishing and shellfish collecting -- the backbone of the local economy -- have been banned over a 150- kilometer stretch of coast, sullied by oil in several patches.  Regional authorities and rescue crews are worried the spill may wreak major damage on one of Spain's most beautiful coasts, famous for their corals, marine life and seabirds.  Galicia is the region of the 15-nation European Union most dependent on fishing and the industry there employs 120,000 people.

9. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  Regional officials are charting the progress of a major 130- kilometer slick around 12 kilometers off the coast, but said other slicks further out to sea could take some time to reach shore.  A French decontamination vessel sent to the area had recovered over 100 tonnes of the fuel from the sea by Tuesday midday, as the cleanup efforts continued.  Neighboring countries Portual and France expressed worry about pollution on their shores and said they were preparing for the worst.  Like Spain, both depend heavily on fishing and coastal tourism.

10. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  There is a "serious chance that the Portuguese coast will be affected by the oil spill," said Louro Alves, head official at Portugal's northernmost port of Viana do Castelo.  Patrice Castaing, professor of marine geology at Bordeaux University, said the extent of any pollution "will depend on the current from Portugal that usually flows along the coast from the start of December".  At the very least, Castaing said, "we will have some oil patches on the beaches".  The European Commission, meanwhile, called on EU states to "urgently" implement EU-wide rules on maritime safety.  Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio has reminded European governments of EU rules that were established in the wake of the last such disaster in Europe, when the Erika oil tanker went down off the French coast in 1999.

11. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  Port checks on single-skinned tankers like the Prestige will be mandatory under EU law from July 2003.  A tanker of its build and age would be banned from EU waters in 2005, and all single-hull freighters would be phased out by French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien said on Tuesday the European Union needed a "maritime police force" to prevent unseaworthy vessels travelling through EU state's waters.  Ships with flags of convenience -- flags of a country other than the country of ownership -- remained "a real problem", Robien said. Eco Matsers of Greenpeace in Amsterdam agreed, saying countries like the Bahamas where the Prestige is registered "do not demand high standards for the ships they register, and the risks with such ships are high".

12. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  The shipwreck has led to a row over who is responsible, with Spanish officials saying the tanker had crossed into Portugal's maritime salvage zone and Lisbon vehemently denying the claim.  The Prestige was being towed out to sea because Spanish, French and Portuguese authorities had all refused to allow it to dock at their ports.  The tug was thought to have been heading toward an African port.

13. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  Nature of incident The tanker PRESTIGE (81,564 DWT) suffered hull damage during the afternoon of Wednesday 13th November in heavy seas off northern Spain and developed a severe list. She was carrying a cargo of some 77,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, a quantity of which was lost at the time of the initial damage and more was lost subsequently. The casualty was taken in tow and moved away from the coast. By the morning of Tuesday 19th November she had reached a position some 170 miles west of Vigo. Although attempts were made by the salvors to minimise the stresses on the vessel, she broke in two early on the 19th and the two sections sank some hours later in water some two miles deep. At the time of the sinking it was reported that a substantial further quantity of oil was released.

14. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  It was thought that in excess of 5,000 tonnes had been lost before the vessel broke up but the amount lost when the two sections sank is not known.  The heavy fuel oil cargo has a similar specification to that lost from the ERIKA, which spilled 20,000 tonnes of fuel oil off the Brittany coast of France in December 1999.  This oil is highly persistent and will not break up quickly, even in severe weather.

15. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  Oil released before the vessel broke in two has come ashore intermittently along the predominantly rocky coastline between Cabo de la Nave and Punta Langosteira in North West Spain, a distance of 100 - 150 km. However, the most heavily affected area lies between Cabo Toriñana and Malpica.

16. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  The oil released when the vessel broke up is so far from the coast that it is too early to predict its movement.  The surface currents offshore are relatively weak and this type of oil lies low in the water and so is less affected by the wind than a lighter oil.  As a result it could be several days or even longer before it is known where the oil will come ashore, although the coasts of North West Spain and Portugal remain those most clearly at risk.

17. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  Clean-up Clean up operations are being led by Spain's Sociedad Nacional de Salvamento y Seguridad Maritima (SASEMAR). Attempts to recover oil at sea are being undertaken by vessels from Spain, France and the Netherlands although these activities are being hampered by the severe weather conditions. During the days following the incident booms were deployed to protect sensitive resources and in one location a sand bank has been constructed across an inlet to protect an area of wetlands. Spanish stocks of booms, skimmers and other equipment are being supplemented by resources from Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL). On the shorelines OSRL and other SASEMAR contractors are working with the Galician regional government and individual communes assisted by men from the Spanish Navy to recover oil from the shorelines.

18. Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain  Impact of the incident The affected area supports a rich and diverse fishing and aquaculture industry, including the cultivation of mussels, oysters, turbot and several other species, and the harvesting of various 'wild' species of fish and shellfish. The season for collecting goose-necked barnacles was due to open on 18th November but has remained closed and fishing within the affected are has been stopped. Environmental concerns are mainly focussed on sites of international importance for birds.