Water pollution by ships
Abstract
Ocean and marine environments face the adverse effects of climate change and
environmental pollution. Maritime transportation, one of the most severe marine pollution sources
because of ship-sourced operations, poses risks to the marine environment in many types and
ways. A robust risk assessment should be organised to identify causal mechanisms and the
resources of the pollution. In this study, the steps of ship operations that may cause marine
pollution and the structure of the relations between them were established based on their expert
opinions and the information contained in the literature. On this basis, the probabilities of each
ship's operations that cause marine pollution are computed by the Fuzzy Bayesian Network
approach. The extent of the response operation according to the level of marine pollution is
determined by the Bow-tie approach. As a result, the procedures that cause funnel gas emissions
are the riskiest. The study will be beneficial for the practitioners of safety and environmental
management in maritime transportation to make decisions practically and strategically.
Introduction
Climate change because of anthropogenic stress factors such
as urbanization, industrialization, agricultural activities, and
the population is increasingly disrupting the ecological
balance (GESAMP, 2019; UNEP, 2020). Furthermore, due to
environmental pollution, oceans, the world's largest
ecosystem, are faced with problems such as increasing
seawater temperatures, acidification, and decreasing seawater
oxygen rates (Bindoff et al., 2019; Laffoley and Baxter, 2019).
Marine pollution is the insertion of matter or energy around the sea environment that will
damage the living sources of the marine ecosystem and reduce the possibilities of use
(GESAMP, 2015). Marine pollutants are separating into permanent organic substances, heavy
metals, oil and oil compounds, radioactivity, sewage, solid wastes, garbage, food, debris, and
noise (Chahouri et al., 2022; Mostofa et al., 2013; Zeng et al., 2015). Maritime transportation,
port activities, fishing, open sea hydrocarbon activities, other sea-based energy industry, sea-
based mining, and marine tourism are listed as the main sea activities that lead to marine
pollution (Tornero and Hanke, 2016; UNEP, 2020).
Maritime transportation, the most efficient transportation system in terms of energy and costs
spent per unit load, is also the backbone of the global economy in terms of carrying 80 %of
world trade volume. Although the amount of cargo carried by sea decreased by 3.8% because of
the pandemic in 2020 compared to the previous year, it was recorded as 10.7 billion tons (Grote
et al., 2016; UNCTAD, 2022; Viana et al., 2020). Therefore, increasing ship traffic causes the
risk of pollution caused by daily ship operations (Xu et al., 2021). Ship operations that create
the risk of marine pollution can be listed as loading-discharging, bunkering, ballast water, main
machinery and generator exhaust release, equipment maintenance, and crew's daily activities
(Zhang et al., 2021a). Ship-induced wastes account for 11% of all marine environmental
pollution (Gibson et al., 2019; Sherrington et al., 2016).
• Oil and petroleum leakages during the voyage and port
operations, liquid and packaged wastes within the scope
of hazardous and noxious substances (HNS), sewage,
garbage, exhaust gas emissions, and invasive species
carried by ballast water are listed as ship-sourced wastes
(Carić, 2016; Jägerbrand et al., 2019; Ytreberg et al.,
2021; Zhang et al., 2021a). In preventing marine
pollution stemming from ships, the International
Maritime Organization (IMO) specified the international
regulations through the International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78),
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS 74), and Ballast Water Management Convention
(BWM 2004) (Pérez et al., 2017; Sayinli et al., 2022).
However, the lack of waste reception facilities in
developing regions of the world and the dumping of
waste into the sea in places where the risk of being
caught is low are factors that make the measures disabled
(Onwuegbuchunam et al., 2017). Therefore, despite
international regulations, ship-sourced marine pollution
remains an environmental problem (Liu et al., 2021a;
Oil and petroleum leakages during the voyage and port operations,
liquid and packaged wastes within the scope of hazardous and noxious
substances (HNS), sewage, garbage, exhaust gas emissions, and
invasive species carried by ballast water are listed as ship-sourced
wastes (Carić, 2016; Jägerbrand et al., 2019; Ytreberg et al., 2021;
Zhang et al., 2021a). In preventing marine pollution stemming from
ships, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) specified the
international regulations through the International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78), International
Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS 74), and Ballast
Water Management Convention (BWM 2004) (Pérez et al., 2017;
Sayinli et al., 2022). However, the lack of waste reception facilities in
developing regions of the world and the dumping of waste into the sea
in places where the risk of being caught is low are factors that make
the measures disabled (Onwuegbuchunam et al., 2017). Therefore,
despite international regulations, ship-sourced marine pollution
remains an environmental problem (Liu et al., 2021a; Ringbom, 2018;
Sakib et al., 2021).
Conclusion
Due to ship operations, maritime transportation causes pollution risks for the
marine environment in many diverse ways. In this study, Bow-tie-based Fuzzy
Bayes networks evaluated the possibility of causing marine environmental
pollution in the operations carried out on the ship. It has been found that funnel
gas emissions, hose and pipe failures, and garbage management are the riskiest
operational factors for causing marine environmental pollution. In this context, to
prevent pollution caused
