CHAPTER SEVEN

OIL POLLUTION AND INCIDENTS

11 MOST SEVERE OIL SPILLS
Learning objectives

• Introduction
• Load on top
• ODMCS
• MARPOL Conventions
• MARPOL Annex 1 conventions
• MARPOL Annex 1 Discharge requirements
• Oil Record Book
• SOPEP
• MARPOL Annex 2
• P & A Manual
Categories of pollution
• Operational – tank cleaning
• Accidental – casualty / faulty valves etc

The 1954 Convention only addressed operational spills and not accidental

In 1964 amendments were made that further controlled the amount of permitted
pollution as it was realized that most oil entering the sea was a result of
operational discharges and NOT accidental.
Load on Top
Density difference
ODMCS – Oil
Discharge
Control System
(ODME)
ODMCS
ODCMS
ODMCS

• Also the interface profile may vary in depth. There is rarely a clear-cut boundary between the two. At best, an emulsion layer will exist of varying
depth - it is also possible to get layering of the oil within the water.
• Discharge of the slop tank content must cease well before the measured interface is reached. Every effort should be made to remove as much water
as possible consistent with the priority of not letting any oil/water mixture entering the sea. In this context the latter stages of pumping will have to
be carried out at a slow rate with the stripping pump to avoid a vortex dragging the oil through the water layer. The procedure to be followed is:

• Use one main cargo pump at reduced speed until a tank sounding of about 20 percent of the tank capacity is reached
• Stop the main cargo pump, re-measure the interface. Recalculate remaining water depth.
• Resume pumping using stripping pump until a predetermined level is reached - based on experience & construction of tank, remember
curvature of slop tanks at low ullages means small volumes. As predetermined level is reached slow pump down to a minimum
• If oil appears, or ODMCS shuts the overboard discharge valve stop discharge.
• At all times, an uninterrupted overside watch on deck should be kept.

• An entry in the oil record book must be made and ODMCS print outs kept for inspection (they must be retained onboard for 3 years).
MARPOL conventions

In 1973 IMO adopted the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) which covers the different types of ship
generated pollution. They are contained in 6 annexes (dates they came into force are shown):

• Annex I 03/10/83 Oil

• Annex II 06/04/87 Noxious Liquid Substances in bulk (chemicals)
• Annex III 01/07/92 Packaged Harmful Substances
• Annex IV 27/09/03 Sewage
• Annex V 31/12/88 Garbage
• Annex VI 19/05/05 Air Pollution

The 1973 convention re-defined oil as “petroleum in any form including crude oil and refined products”, thus bringing product tankers into the scope of
MARPOL.
Certification
Further legislation

• The 1973 Convention was modified by the 1978 protocol that addressed accidental
pollution resulting from casualties (stranding & collisions). The main effect is to reduce
the size of tankers to which the regulations applied and introduce the concept of
protectively locating cargo tanks by surrounding them with ballast spaces.
• Crude Oil Washing (COW) is required for crude oil tankers over 20,000 dwt and improved
stripping arrangements are required. 
• Shore reception facilities were also mandated - many countries seem to have ignored
this!
• Further limits are placed on the amount of oil that can be discharged into the sea during
routine operations and for Special Areas, discharges are banned completely.
Special Areas

• “a sea area where, for recognized technical reasons in relation to its

oceanographical and ecological condition and to the particular character
of its traffic, the adoption of special mandatory methods for the
prevention of sea pollution by oil is required.”
MARPOL Annex I Discharge
Requirements Special Areas
• Mediterranean
• Baltic
• Black sea
• Red sea
• Arabian gulf
• Gulf of Aden
• Antarctic
• Oman
• South Africa
• North West European Waters
 MARPOL
Machinery Spaces – all ships

•Must be en-route
•Oil Filtering equipment in use
•>400 gt <10,000 gt
•Approved oil filtering equipment max oil content not > 15 ppm
•>10,00 gt
•Approved oil filtering equipment max oil content not > 15 ppm + an alarm
and a system to automatically stop discharge
•Residues not mixed with anything from cargo area

Inside a Special Area

•As above but filtering equipment must have an alarm and an auto stop
device

Oil Record Book Part I - Machinery Space Operations

•Retained for 3 years on board
 Cargo Areas of Tankers
Outside Special Areas
•More than50 Nm from land
•Proceeding en-route
•Instantaneous rate of discharge < 30 liters per n mile
•Total quantity of oil discharged is < 1/30,000 if the previous cargo
•ODMCS working & slop tank arrangements

Inside Special Areas

•No discharges allowed from cargo tanks or pump rooms

Oil Record Book Part II – Cargo/Ballast Operations

•Retained for 3 years on board
Marpol Annex 1
Amendments

• The 1992 amendments to

MARPOL 73/78 bought in the
concept of the double hull,
mainly as a result of the Exxon
Valdez grounding and the
subsequent OPA 90 laws of the
USA. All new oil tankers over
5000 dwt to be double hulled.
Single hull tankers > 5000 dwt
have now been phased out.
Summary
• In summary then, Annex 1 to Marpol 73/78 is the main instrument for the
control of oil pollution from ships and contains design and operational
measures to reduce the amount of oil entering the sea from operational and
accidental sources.
• The use of LOT, COW and double hulls have all helped to reduce pollution
along with more effective design of oily water separators and monitors.
Constructional requirements including damage survival capability, tank size
limitation, slop tank capacity and overboard piping arrangements.
• A modern, well run tanker should not need to put any oil overboard - just
decanted slop water. If every port had reception facilities even that would not
be necessary. Pollution is decreasing as a result. Most pollution incidents are
of small volume, but it’s the big ones that make the headlines. They are rare.
 Annex I requires a cargo record book. It must be completed on
Oil Record a tank by tank basis whenever any of the following are carried
out:
Book part  
•loading cargo
II Cargo •internal transfer of cargo
•unloading of cargo tanks
Operations •cleaning of cargo tanks
•ballasting of cargo tanks (rarely done, for extreme weather
conditions)
•discharge of ballast from cargo tanks
•discharge of water from slop tanks
•closing of all applicable valves or similar devices after slop
tank discharge operations
•disposal of residues
•any accidental or intentional discharges
Oil Record Book part II Cargo
Operations
• All entries are to be signed & dated by the officer in charge of
the operation and each page must be counter-signed by the
master.
• In front of the book a ship’s tank plan with capacities must be
entered. The Record Book is to be kept onboard for 3 years.
SOPEP
Regulation 37 of Annex 1 requires tankers of greater
than 150 gt and every other vessel >400 gt to carry
onboard a Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan
(SOPEP).
The SOPEP will include:
•Procedures to be followed in the event of an oil
pollution incident
•List of Authorities to be contacted
•Detailed description of the action to be taken to reduce
or control the discharge of oil following an incident
•Procedures to adopt with national & local authorities in
combating pollution
SOPEP
• Effective planning ensures that the necessary actions are
taken in a logical and timely fashion. For any plan to be
effective it has to be:
• Familiar to those with key functions on the ship
• Reviewed & updated regularly
• Tested for effectiveness regularly. It is recommended that
drills are conducted but does not specify the frequency. Most
companies specify SOPEP drills every 3 months.
 SOPEP
• Any oil spill should be treated as an emergency and it is vitally
important to prevent any oil escaping overboard. The authorities
are not that concerned if you have an oil covered ship,
notwithstanding any flammability or toxic hazard that may be
present. Once the oil has gone over the side there is not much
the ship can do about it beyond stopping any further oil going
over the side. It’s a shore problem from then on but at the end of
the day the polluter is going to pay.
• It is a requirement of MARPOL that the nearest coastal state be
notified of actual or probable discharges of oil into the sea for
them to take appropriate action and salvage measures.
There are several measures that can be
taken in the event of a spill:
• Hydrostatic levelling or cargo transfer internally
• List or trim ship
• Reduce IG pressure to reduce outflow if hull breached
• Put water blanket under cargo by pump
• Ship to ship transfer Preventative measures include:
• Having all scupper plugs in
• Double checking valve & line settings - incl. over board valves
• Portable air-driven pump rigged to drain rain water or spilt oil to a
slop tank
• Oil spill response equipment ready
• Keeping moorings well adjusted
• Vigilance!! - good deck watch etc.
Tankers are also required to have emergency towing equipment for
use if the vessel is adrift and in danger (SOLAS regulation). It is part
of the ships anti-pollution equipment
Crude Oil Washing - COW
Under Marpol 73/78 all crude oil tankers over 20,000 dwt must
be fitted with a COW system. It follows that it is a pre-requisite to
also have an inert gas plant because of the safety implications in
using an oil as a washing medium.
COW was initially developed to reduce pollution and also for
commercial reasons. If cargo tanks are cleaned with an efficient
washing medium during the discharge more oil will be pumped
ashore and will not be onboard when the ship is at sea, then
there is consequently less oil to cause pollution. 
COW is described more fully in Chapter 6.
 MARPOL ANNEX II

Introduction
•Marpol Annex II concerns the discharge of noxious liquid
substances in bulk - i.e. chemicals and details the discharge
criteria & measures for control of pollution by them.

Assessment of Pollution Categories

The pollution categories are determined on the basis of:
• Accumulative effect of biological hazard on the
environment
•Tainting effect on fish
•Acute toxic effect on sea life
•Acute & chronic toxicity to humans
•Effect on amenities such as beaches etc.
 Marpol Annex II
The pollution category is decided by GESAMP – Group Of
Experts On The Scientific Aspects Of Marine Pollution. They
generate a Hazard Profile.
GESAMP is a United Nations body that draws on expertise from
other UN organizations such as the WHO, IMO, IAEA etc.
Categorization of NLS
•Category X – Major hazard, discharge prohibited
•Category Y – A hazard, discharge quality & quantity limited
•Category Z – Minor hazard, less stringent restrictions on quality
& quantity discharged
•OS (Other Substances) – No harm no restrictions on discharge
• It is not possible to have an analyzer which can measure
hundreds of different chemicals, so rather than prescribe the
number of liters per mile or ppm that can be discharged for
each chemical Annex II specifies how much liquid residue can
be left in the tank at the end of discharge. For chemical ships
built from 2007 on it is a maximum of 75ltrs.
Special Areas for Annex II

• Each annex to MARPOL has its own Special Areas. For Annex II however the only special Area is:
• The Antarctic 
• The allowable discharge criteria for each category of substance follows:

Outside Special Areas All Categories:

• en route, min speed 7 knots
• discharge is below waterline
• more than 12 miles from land
• water depth >25 meters

Cat. X
• Substances must undergo pre-washing in port prior to sailing from the discharge port.
Cat. Y & Z
• As per ‘All Categories’ except high viscosity & solidifying substances of Cat. Y require a pre-wash.
OS’s
• Are not subject to Annex II discharge restrictions
Certification
It is a requirement that the vessel can strip efficiently, and this
will have to be proved to a Class Surveyor before issuing an
International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate for the Carriage
of Noxious Liquid Substances In Bulk (valid for 5 years with
annual and intermediate surveys).
Procedure and Arrangements Manual (P
& A Manual)
• It is a requirement under MARPOL Annex II that chemical
tankers have a ship specific Procedures and Arrangements
manual, the main purpose of which is to identify for the ships
officers the physical arrangements and all the operational
procedures with respect to cargo handling, tank cleaning,
slops handling, and cargo tank ballasting and deballasting
which must be followed in order to comply with the
requirements of Annex II.
• Cargo Record Book for Ships Carrying Noxious Liquid in Bulk
• Chemical tankers have their own separate oil record book
when carrying chemicals, if they are also carrying oil they
need an oil record book too. The format is essentially the
same as the oil record book required for oil tankers.
The 11 most destructive oil spills
11 - M/T Haven Tanker, 1991

PHOTO CREDIT: (PHOTO BY ROMANO CAGNONI/GETTY IMAGES)

11 - M/T Haven Tanker, 1991
Location: Genoa, Italy
Gallons: 42 million 

How It Happened: 
An ill-maintained tanker exploded and later sunk off the coast of Italy. The accident killed
6 people. The Italians attempted to tow the Haven to shore, but failed, and the 820 ft-long
vessel sunk off the coast of Genoa. Today it is believed to be the largest shipwreck in the
world and is a popular tourist destination for divers. 

The Cleanup: 
Immediately after the incident, Italian authorities scrambled to fight the fire and control the
spread of the spillage using 6 miles of inflatable barriers that were submerged below the
water surface around the vessel. The rest of the surface oil was sucked up using vacuums.
10 - Odyssey Oil Spill, 1988

PHOTO CREDIT: (PHOTO BY PAUL EDMONDSON/GETTY IMAGES)

10 - Odyssey Oil Spill, 1988
Location: 700 nautical miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada 
Gallons: 43 million 

How It Happened: 
In November 1988 the Liberian tanker Odyssey, virtually full to the brim with North Sea
crude oil, broke in two and sunk in the North Atlantic 700 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia.
It also caught fire as it sunk. 

The Cleanup: 
Because the incident took place so far from the coastline, the oil was expected to dissipate
naturally and no clean up response was conducted.
9 - Amoco Cadiz, 1978

PHOTO CREDIT: (PHOTO BY JEAN-PIERRE PREVEL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

9 - Amoco Cadiz, 1978
Location: Off Brittany, France
Gallons: 68.7 million 

How It Happened: 
The tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground off the coast of Brittany after its steering failed in a
severe storm. Its entire cargo of 246,000 tons of light crude oil was dumped into the roiling
waters of the English Channel. 

The Cleanup:
Cleanup efforts were foiled by strong winds and heavy seas and less than 3300 tons of
dispersants were used. Within a month of the spill, 200 miles of the French shoreline was
contaminated with oil, which had the grim consequence of killing off more marine life than
any other oil spill at the time. Vacuum trucks and agricultural vacuum units were used to suck
some of the oil, although a lot of it was simply removed by hand.
8 - Castillo de Bellver, 1983

PHOTO CREDIT: (PHOTO BY MARTIN HARVEY/GETTY IMAGES)

8 - Castillo de Bellver, 1983
Location: Off Saldanha Bay, South Africa
Gallons: 78.5 million 

How It Happened: 
The Castillo de Bellver caught fire about 70 miles northwest of Capetown, South Africa, on
August 6, 1983. The blazing tanker was abandoned and drifted offshore until it eventually
broke in half. The stern capsized and sank into the deep ocean, with some 110,000 ton of
oil remaining in its tanks. The bow section was sunk in a controlled explosion. 

The Cleanup:
Cleanup was minimal. There was some dispersant spraying, but the environmental
consequences were small. About 1500 gannets gathered on a nearby island, were oiled,
but the impact on local fish stocks was minimal.
7 - ABT Summer, 1991

PHOTO CREDIT: (PHOTO BY TERJE RAKKE/GETTY IMAGES)

7 - ABT Summer, 1991
Location: Off the coast of Angola
Gallons: 80 million 

How It Happened: 
While en route to Rotterdam, the fully loaded tanker, ABT Summer, experienced an explosion
onboard and caught fire while it was 900 miles off the coast of Angola, leaking its payload
into the ocean. Surrounded by a growing oil slick that spanned 80 square miles, the tanker
burned for 3 days before sinking. 

The Cleanup: 
While no one can say how much of the oil sank or burned off, most of the oil is thought to
have been broken up by high seas at little environmental cost, thanks to the incident’s
offshore location.
6 - Nowruz Oil Field, 1983

PHOTO CREDIT: (PHOTO BY TOM STODDART/GETTY IMAGES)

6 - Nowruz Oil Field, 1983
Location: Persian Gulf 
Gallons: 80 million 

How It Happened:
During the Iran-Iraq War, an oil tanker crashed into the Nowruz Field Platform in the Persian
Gulf and knocked it askew, damaging the well underneath. The oil well then leaked about
1500 barrels a day, but because it was in the center of a war zone, seven months went by
before it was fixed. 

The Cleanup: 
Norpol, a Norwegian company, used booms and skimmers to stem the spread of oil.
5 - Fergana Valley, 1992

PHOTO CREDIT: (PHOTO BY IMAGE SOURCE/GETTY IMAGES)

5 - Fergana Valley, 1992
Location: Uzbekistan 
Gallons: 87.7 million 

How It Happened: 
Nearly 88 million gallons of oil spilled from an oil well in Fergana Valley, one of Uzbekistans’s
most active energy and oil-refining areas. While the spill didn’t get much press at the time,
it is the largest inland spill ever reported. 

The Cleanup: 
The ground absorbed this spill, leaving nothing for cleaning crews to tackle.
4 - Atlantic Empress, 1979

PHOTO CREDIT: (PHOTO BY HEIN HINRICHS)

4 - Atlantic Empress, 1979
Location: Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies
Gallons: 88.3 million 

How It Happened: 
On July 1979, the Aegean Captain and the Atlantic Empress, two full supertankers, collided
off the coast of Tobago in the Caribbean Sea, precipitating the largest ship-sourced oil spill
in history.  Both vessels began to leak their crude oil and caught fire. The Atlantic Empress
was towed out to sea until it exploded 300 nautical miles offshore. 26 people were killed.

The Cleanup: 
The response to the incident included firefighting efforts and the use of dispersants to treat
the oil that spilled over the course of the accident and then while the Atlantic Empress was
towed away. Luckily, only minor shore pollution was reported on nearby islands.
3 - Ixtoc 1 Oil Well, 1979

PHOTO CREDIT: (PHOTO BY JOHN HOAGLAND/GETTY IMAGES)

3 - Ixtoc 1 Oil Well, 1979
Location: Bay of Campeche, Mexico
Gallons: 140 million 

How It Happened: 
In June 1979, an oil well in the Bay of Campeche collapsed after a pressure buildup sparked
an accidental explosion. Over the next 10 months about 140 million gallons of crude spouted
into the Gulf of Mexico from the damaged oil well. 

The Cleanup: 
In order to slow down the flow of oil from the damaged well, mud, steel, iron and lead balls
were dropped down its shaft. Half the oil burned when it reached the surface and a third
evaporated. Dispersants were also sprayed over 1100 square miles of oil slick. Skimmers and
boomers were placed in the water to protect the bays and lagoons of the Barrier Islands.
2 - Deepwater Horizon, 2010

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=836285
2 - Deepwater Horizon, 2010
Location: Gulf of Mexico
Gallons: 206 million 

How It Happened: 
On April, 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded due to a methane gas release
from the well, immediately killing 11 and injuring 17 platform workers. The vessel burned for
almost two days and sank. The open well continued to leak oil into the Gulf until July 15, 2010.

The Cleanup: 
As of August 2010, the clean up efforts are still underway. Approximately 75% of the oil is
unaccounted for. By July 30, more than 1.8 million gallons of dispersant were released into
the Gulf. By June 28, BP removed 890,00 barrels of oil liquid and burned about 314,000
barrels of oil. It is believed a large amount of the missing oil is lingering in subsurface layers of
the Gulf.

The clean up effort will continue for many years.

1 - Gulf War, 1991

PHOTO CREDIT: (PHOTO BY PER-ANDERS PETTERSSON/GETTY IMAGES)

1 - Gulf War, 1991
Location: Kuwait
Gallons: 240 to 336 million 

How It Happened: 
As Iraqi forces retreated from Kuwait during the first Gulf War, they opened the valve
of oil wells and pipelines in a bid to slow American troops. The result was the largest oil spill
history has seen, spanning an area just larger than the size of the island of Hawaii. 

The Cleanup: 
Coalition forces managed to seal off some of the open pipelines using smart bombs, but
most recovery efforts had to wait until after the war. Together with vacuum trucks about
58.8 million gallons of oil was recovered from the Gulf.
 Oil spills and Oil slicks
• During oil transportation some oil is discharged from tankers either accidentally
or deliberately. This is called oil spills.
• Oil spills produce oil slicks.
• These oil slicks are carried away by winds and currents
• Oil spills and oil slicks cause oil pollution and sea water contamination.

Tanker is
wrecked into two
halves

When spilt on the

sea, oil tends to
form a slick on the
surface
 Fate of an oil spill

• Oil in the spill mixes with sea water and forms an emulsion at the surface.
This emulsion is called “chocolate mousse”.
• Small amount of the mousse is dissolved in sea water.
• Oil droplets begin to weather off by the volatilization and the photoxidation of
lighter volatile substances.
• Oil droplets thicken and become denser and tarry with time and sink to the sea
bed.
• Often, the tar accumulate debris forming tar balls, which may eventually be
cast ashore.
• The oil is slowly broken down naturally by aerobic bacteria where the rate is
dependent on the supply of oxygen and nutrients, i.e. nitrates and phosphates.
Global TREND IN
OIL SPILLS
 Impacts of a Major Oil
Spill
1. Destroys Marine Life
2. Destabilizes Marine Communities
3. Degrades Shore Amenities
4. Harms Economic Activities
5. Impacts Human Welfare
 1. How does the oil spill destroy
Marine Life?
1. The aromatic fractions and the heavy metals in
oil are so toxic. If ingested lead to direct toxic
effects and mortality of birds and mammals.
2. Upon ingestion, oil chemically attacks the lipid
in the cell membranes of the gut epithelium. It
begins to die and slough off causing mortality
to birds and mammals.
3. Clean-up activities damage the marine life by
crushing and removing from the habitat.
4. Sea birds are oiled at the sea surface, loose their
insulation and either drown when they become
waterlogged, get hypothermia or die from oil Marine birds and otters
ingestion while trying to preen.
5. Oil can sink to the ocean floor and destroy the habitats of
benthic animals.
6. Oil can react with oxygen in the air to form acids that are
carried by wind and eventually fall back to the ground as
acid rain.
7. Oil washes up on beaches, coral reefs and marshes, and
threaten those habitats and the wildlife species there.
8. Sea turtles, whales, fish, otters and other animals can become
oil-soaked and die.
9. Dear, bears, wolves, dogs, and cats can die from eating oil-
soaked beach plants and animal carcasses.
 2. How does the oil spill Destabilizes
Marine Communities and
Populations?
Case study: Torrey Canyon wreck in the UK.
Rocky shore community of Cornwall were
heavily contaminated with oil.
Eg. Grazing gastropods and barnacles in rocky
shore were vulnerable to oil pollution
-gastopods were prevented from grazing by the
covering of oil,
-Barnacles ingested oil residues during filter-
feeding and suffered toxic effects.
Both groups were also highly sensitive to
dispersants and detergents that were used in the
clean-up.
 A classification of the sensitivity of the natural
environment to oil spills
Shore type Sensitivity
Exposed rocky shores Least sensitive- High natural dispersion
Eroding wave cut platforms
Fine grained sand beaches
Coarse grained sand beaches
Exposed, compacted tidal flats
Mixed sand and gravel beaches
Gravel beaches
Sheltered rocky coasts
Sheltered tidal flats
Salt marshes and mangroves
Coral reefs Most sensitive- highly sensitive biota
3. How does the oil spill
Degrade Shore
Amenities?

1. Oil on the water’s surface can catch on

fire and pollute the air.
2. Contamination of coastal amenity
areas lead into public disquiet and
concern regarding impacts to boating,
sun- bathing, swimming, angling and
other recreational pursuits.
The degree of impact to recreation is
largely based on the season it occurred.
Summer being the highest impact
period due to recreation and tourism.
 5. How does the oil spill Harm
Economic Activities?
1. Oil can be tasted at very low
concentrations, giving contaminated
food a ‘taint’ and making it
unpalatable. Therefore, even if no
mortality occurs, fish caught near a
spill (open sea or aquaculture pond)
may be unmarketable.
2. Tourism, hotel and restaurant
businesses, dive and fishing charters,
rentals, marine operations could be
affected.
3. Frequently, the media press exaggerate
the impacts so that economic losses
can be massive beyond the actual.
Management of oil pollution
Basically, two
options;
•Prevention
•Recovery
 1.
Prevention
1. Design safer oil tankers.
Double lined bottom instead of single metal layer.
Separate compartments for oil storage.In a double-
hull tanker, the cargo tanks are separated from
the ships outer hull to protect against the impact
of an accident.

2. Thorough training of tanker crews.

–Develop better emergency procedures.
–Improve navigation skills.
 2. Recovery
• There are four basic options for dealing
with an oil spill
1. Monitor only
2. Disperse
3. Contain and recover
4. Shore clean-up methods
 1. Monitor only
• This allows for natural dispersion to occur by
currents and waves.
• The best environmentally friendly option.
• However, the press and the public often see
this option as an attempt of the oil polluter
and the authorities to save money by doing
nothing.
 2. Disperse
• Oil slick is broken up to small droplets
creating a greater surface area for natural
weathering and biodegradation.
• Ships towing breaker boards
• Spraying Chemical dispersants manually or by
low flying aircrafts
 3. Contain and recover
1. Contain the spill with oil booms and skimming the
spill

Booms are giant Styrofoam logs wrapped in plastic that act like a floating fence.

Then vacuum up spilled oil with skimmer boats. A skimmer is a boat with special
equipment that collects oil from the surface of calm waters.

About 10-15% of the spill could be recovered preventing further damage.

Effective only in the quite seas
 4. Clean-up method
• Many methods are available here.
• In a shore, clean-up will damage more than the damage caused by the oil
pollution.
• Properties of Oil that Affect Cleanup

1. Viscosity
A measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow. The hotter a fluid, the more easily it
flows. Oil spilled in the cold waters of Alaska spreads slower than oil spilled off
the warm coast of South America.

2. Density
A measure of how heavy a substance is in a fixed amount of volume. Many oils float
on top of water because they are lighter than water.

3. Absorptivity
A measure of how easily a fluid is absorbed, or soaked up, by a different
material. Engineers use absorbent pillows to soak up spilled oil.
1. Physical removal of oil from a beach by scrape
blades and suction pumps
2. Bioremediation of oil
spills
Biodegrade the oil by spreading microbes on
beaches.
Bioremediation
1.Initially oil cleaning bacteria were produced by genetic engineering. – Not very effective
though.
2.Several naturally occurring Pseudomonas bacteria were used next under aerobic conditions ,
and their growth was enhanced by spraying nitrogen and phosphorous plant fertilizers.
3.The number of bacteria increased significantly and the oil spill was degraded by fully cleaning
the beach.
3. Absorb the oil with sawdust, straw, foam chips,
or other oleophilic sorbents.
4. Use chemicals to disperse the oil into small droplets and let it
drift out to sea.
5. Beach washing with detergents
6. Steam jetting
7. Low or high pressure washing.
8. Removal of oiled substrata/biota
• Heavily oiled sand could be bulldozed
• Macro-algal fronds that trapped oil are cut and sent for disposal