Pollution

Citation

(2006), "Pollution", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 15 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2006.07315cac.002

Pollution

16 March 2005Tasman Spirit (Malta)

Pakistan is likely to get $32 million soon as compensation from an international fund for sea pollution along the Arabian coast, caused by crude oil tanker Tasman Spirit in August 2003. Official sources said the country succeeded in acquiring compensatory payment after it became a signatory last month to the International Convention on Civil Liability for oil pollution damage. “It enabled the country to meet its liability regime for compensation against any claims due to pollution by persistent oil escape or discharge from a vessel,” said an official. “The CLC-92 (Civil Liability Convention 1992) ensures that adequate compensation is available to persons who suffer oil pollution damage resulting from maritime casualties involving oil-carrying vessels.” He said the final estimate of the international body suggested that the country would receive a total of $32 million in compensation for the oil spill from Tasman Spirit from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, created in 1992. “However, the International Convention on Civil Liability places the liability of such damage on the owner of the vessel which discharges the polluting oil,” said the official. Tasman Spirit, carrying about 67,500 tonnes of Iranian crude oil, ran aground in July 2003, and within a month it broke in two, resulting in a huge oil spillage. The vessel spilled about 31,000 tonnes of oil before it was plugged. The officials said the government initiated the case for access to CLC-92 in September 2003, and the ministry of ports and shipping last month submitted the application for the ratification of CLC-92 to the International Maritime Organisation. The spillage caused widespread and heavy damage to the environment, and serious concern over public health in the city. Experts feared the disaster would have long-term effects on the environment and marine resources. The vessel was finally towed out of Karachi port in March 2004, and beached at Gadani. Representatives for the vessel’s owners sold the two sections of the vessel to local firms for Rs103 million.

21 March 2005Athos I (Cyprus)

A Delaware River Oil Spill Joint Information Centre press release, dated March 18, states: Funding for the cleanup operations related to the discharge of oil from crude oil tanker Athos I into the Delaware River near Paulsboro on November 26 will officially be federalized and handled by the National Pollution Funds Centre (NPFC) March 21. The Coast Guard is working on a cooperative agreement with the Responsible Party (RP) and is reviewing a full spectrum of options to transfer the source of funding to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF) via the NPFC in order to ensure a seamless transfer of all costs and contracts associated with the spill. “Throughout these operations, it has truly been a unified effort,” said Captain Jonathan Sarubbi, US Coast Guard Captain of the Port Philadelphia. “Now with the continued cooperation of the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, and representatives for the RP, it is our hope that we can make this shift as smoothly as possible so that we can continue diligently cleaning and protecting the environment and minimising the economic impact to the maritime industry and the general public along the Delaware River.” “Since, day one we’ve been working hand-in-hand with the response personnel and the Unified Command to minimise damage and clean up this spill as fast as possible,” said Steve Kegelman, Manager Response Services for the O’Brien’s Group and Incident Commander with the oil spill. “With this change in funding, we’re happy to say that we’ll be staying on the response to ensure a smooth transition without a break in our cleanup operations.” Regardless of who writes the cheques, cleanup costs and claims reimbursement will be paid and cleanup operations will continue on the Delaware River. The owners/insurers of the vessel have already incurred cleanup costs over $100 million, well beyond their financial obligations under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. As a result of this spending and despite the fact that the RP has not yet requested to limit their liability through the NPFC, they have expressed their desire to federalize the cleanup efforts and have the NPFC manage payment through the OSLTF, which was established in 1990 to help facilitate cleanup activities and compensate for damages from oil spills. With over 600 responders working in the command centre and along the affected shoreline, clean up efforts are continuing. Approximately 191,695 gal of oil and oily liquid and 13,867 tons of oily solids have been recovered. Fifteen marinas, along with 78 per cent of the heavily oiled areas, 55 per cent of the medium oiled areas and 34 per cent of the lightly oiled areas have been decontaminated. Oil recovery operations are continuing, weather permitting, throughout the winter months. Once the gross decontamination is completed, the next step will be a detailed assessment of the contaminated areas to finalise the cleanup plan. The Unified Command anticipates cleanup operations will continue through spring and into the summer. The Coast Guard will process third party claims for removal costs and damages as quickly as resources will allow. Claims processing funding limitations have constrained the ability to acquire resources necessary to meet public and Congressional expectations. The magnitude of this spill and the number and type of claims expected to be submitted will test our resources and will likely result in longer processing times than we would like. Investigation into the cause of the spill continues. Final results of the investigation are not expected to be released for several months.

23 March 2005. A Delaware River Oil Spill Joint Information Centre press release, dated today, states: Crude oil tanker Athos I, latest updates: Six hundred and seventeen responders are working in the command centre and along the Delaware River. Some 221,910 gal of oil and oily liquid has been recovered and 14,136 tons of oily solids (cleanup materials and oil) have been collected. Experts report 385 birds have been released and 185 birds are reported deceased. Seventy-eight per cent of the heavily oiled areas, 55 per cent of the medium oiled areas, and 34 per cent of the lightly oiled areas have been grossly decontaminated. Thirty-eight facilities have been grossly decontaminated with seven currently being decontaminated. Out of 21 marina’s needing decontamination, 15 have been fully decontaminated and 116 recreation boats have been decontaminated.

18 March 2005Brittany, France

Chemical/oil carrier Trans Arctic (5,025 gt, built 1991) Bordeaux for Hamburg, loaded, a French custom aircraft noticed the presence of oil residues lying in the wake of the vessel. The Public Prosecutor’s Department of Brest was advised and required the vessel to divert immediately towards Brest and arrived at 13:00, March 18. No information obtained yet concerning the guarantee claimed by the High Court of Brest to release the vessel. Understand that a guarantee of €400,000 was claimed by the High Court of Brest to release chemical/oil carrier Trans Arctic. The vessel was authorised to depart from Brest on March 21, upon payment of the funds claimed.

23 March 2005Maritime Wisdom (Singapore)

Bulk Maritime Wisdom and barge Prapati were in collision at Panjim. Extent of oil spill to be estimated. Clean-up operations going on.

India’s Coast Guard was today fighting to contain 110 tonnes of fuel that leaked into the sea off Goa after a barge collided with bulk Maritime Wisdom before dawn. Though there were no casualties in the accident that happened at 01:00 hour about four nautical miles off the famed Candolim-Sinquerim beach, officials and experts said the oil slick would badly impact the environment. An official said slick, spread over an area of the 3.3 by 1.5 nautical miles, was breaking into two or three patches. It moved some 8 miles south in 16 hours, heading towards Cabo de Rama, one of Goa’s southernmost beaches just north of the border with Karnataka state. The slick was caused when the barge Practi (also reported as Prapati), belonging to the family of a local politician, ran into Maritime Wisdom, which had been loading iron ore since March 16 to be taken to China. Officials said the accident occurred when the barge was coming alongside the tanker. While manoeuvring, it banged into the side of the tanker where the fuel tanks are located. L.U. Joshi, chairman of Goa Pollution Control Board, said the leaking tanker had been plugged by 04:00 hour. A Coast Guard official said air sorties started four hours later to assess the damage. By 13:00 hour, the Coast Guard was flying sorties to disperse the oil. Over a thousand litres of dispersants had been used so far. Coast Guard Commandant L.H. Sharma said the force had not been able to use booms to trap the oil spill because of the high swell in the seas. Sharma said advanced patrol vessels had been called into help in specialised skimming operations since Dornier aircraft being used could only operate till sundown. In state capital Panaji, officials held an emergency meeting with the police, fire service and pollution experts to assess the impact.

24 March 2005. An 8 km² oil slick caused by an offshore collision was threatening the coasts of Goa and northern Karnataka yesterday, triggering an alarm among fishermen and resort owners on the tourist beaches near Panjim. Early in the day Coast Guard Dornier aircraft sprayed chemicals on the spill, created when 110 tons of heavy oil spilled into the sea off the port of Panjim. Officials said the spill, which was beginning to split into three roughly equal patches, was said to be moving southwards and the Coast Guard was hoping to disperse it before it reached inhabited areas. Goa was put on high alert after the spill, which occurred when a local iron ore barge (barge Prapati) collided with bulk Maritime Wisdom off the minor port of Panjim at 01:00 yesterday. As the sea was rough the barge, which was to take on product from Maritime Wisdom, hit one of the oil-filled tanks on board. The crew of Maritime Wisdom transferred the oil from the damaged tank to another one on board, but a large amount had spilled into the sea by then. Both vessels were headed from Mumbai to Goa. The slick, about 25 km from the shoreline, had moved nearly 10 km south, past the Margoa Port Trust, officials said. Goa’s chief secretary, Kiran Dhingra said an alert would remain in force for at least 40 hours or until the slick was contained or dispersed “We are sharing information and also getting feedback from the different monitoring bodies in Goa on an hourly basis ” she said. Apart from the danger to fish and fishermen, who were yesterday ordered to stay clear of the area, the slick could affect plankton, oysters and mussels in the area.

30 March 2005. A local press report states: Thirty-six hours after it launched intense measures to neutralise the oil spill off the coast of Goa, the Coast Guard said the worst was over and the oil is unlikely to touch the coastline, either in Goa or in Karnataka. The over a mile long oil slick has broken down into small patches. At 17:00, local time, on Thursday (March 24) it was still within Goa waters, 9 miles south of Grande Island and travelling in a southerly direction. “The chances of it touching Karwar are bleak. We expect that it will dissipate completely by late Thursday evening or Friday morning (March 25),” Coast Guard Commandant L. H. Sharma told Deccan Herald. Chief Secretary Kiran Dhingra said Goa would continue to be on alert and beach cleaning teams were on standby to pick up operations if the slick hits the tourist beaches here. Over 100 metric tons of oil spilled out of bulk Maritime Wisdom after its tanks were ruptured in a collision with barge Prapati on Wednesday (March 23). “A caution issued to the tourist coast on Wednesday has also been withdrawn. Everything is back to normal and we don’t expect any pollution to hit the beaches,” said Tourism Director Elvis Gomes. “The Coast Guard has done a tremendous job of bringing things under control,”said Tourism Director Elvis Gomes. “Three offshore patrol vessels assisted by aircraft sorties spraying dispersants managed to break down the major portion of the slick by Thursday afternoon. The Coast Guard chief sees little chance of the tar balls being washed to shore or causing any major environmental concerns. The level of pollution is negligible at this point, and there is virtually no hazard perception,” said Goa’s Captain of Ports A. P. Mascarenhas.

30 March 2005Selendang Ayu (Malaysia)

According to a press report dated today, Captain Singh, the master of bulk Selendang Ayu, is to plead guilty today in US District Court at Anchorage, to one charge of making a false statement to the NTSB. This charge stems from a two-hour discrepancy in the time stated in which the vessel’s engines were shut down prior to the accident. The clean-up costs are reported to exceed $24 million at this point, with the clean-up unfinished. Discussions are continuing regarding removing the vessel, one half of which is now completely submerged.

31 March 2005. The captain of bulk Selendang Ayu that broke apart in December and created Alaska’s worst oil spill since the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster pleaded guilty yesterday of lying to federal investigators. Kailash Bhushan Singh entered his plea in US District Court in Anchorage, where Judge Ralph Beistline approved a settlement deal that the captain had reached with federal prosecutors. In exchange for his plea, Singh will serve three years of probation and cooperate with any future probe of the wreck of the Malaysian-flagged Selendang Ayu. Singh admitted to falsifying the ship log and deliberately reporting an inaccurate time for the engine shutdown that eventually led to the vessel’s grounding. Some critics say the wreck might have been averted if he had called for help earlier. “I accept the misstatements that were made and I sincerely apologise,” Singh, an Indian citizen, told Beistline. Singh’s attorney, Michael Chalos, characterized the false statement as an isolated lapse in an otherwise spotless maritime career. “I don’t know if it was borne out of the fact that he was in shock, he was hypothermic, he had just seen six of his crew members go down,” Chalos said

30 March 2005North Slope, Alaska, United States

Environmental workers in Alaska were yesterday racing to clean up 111,300 gal of oily water that spilled from a leaky oil pipeline, officials said. Some 80 workers were battling to clean up the oily water that covers about two acres in what ranks as one of the largest industrial spills ever seen in the oilfields of northern Alaska’s North Slope region. The leak of oil contaminated water was discovered Saturday (March 26) in an oilfield operated by ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc in Kuparuk, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said. “Around 111,300 gal of a mixture of seawater and produced water, which is a mixture of water and crude oil, was released to both gravel pad and tundra,” said the department’s Amanda Leffel. Produced water is water that has been separated from the mixture of crude oil and liquid natural gas that is produced by oil wells. The oil content of the water amounts to about 50 gal, Leffel said. The leaky pipeline carries produced water from a separating plant back to the Kuparuk production facility where it is injected back into the ground to help maintain pressure in the oil field to allow better oil yields. “The exact cause of the leak is yet to be determined,” the department said in a statement. “A line excavation and inspection may be required before the cause can be determined. A repair plan for the pipeline is being developed,” it added.

25 March 2005Katerina (Malta)

The chief engineer of bulk Katerina was sentenced to eight months in federal prison yesterday after admitting he allowed oily waste to be pumped into the ocean. Edgardo A. Guinto, 49, pleaded guilty in January and was convicted of obstruction of justice charges. He was sentenced yesterday in Los Angeles by United States District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper. According to the district attorney’s office, the Philippines resident admitted he told crew members to remove and conceal the bypass pipe when the vessel came into port in Long Beach. The DA’s office also said Guinto admitted he made fraudulent entries in the vessel’s pollution prevention records. Captain Ioannis Kallikis, 65, of Athens, Greece, pleaded guilty in February to an obstruction of justice charge. Kallikis admitted his actions meant to impede a Coast Guard investigation into pollution violations. He allegedly advised other crew members they needed to destroy incriminating messages. Kallikis is scheduled to be sentenced on April 4. The vessel’s second engineer, Rolan O. Sullesta, 42, pleaded guilty in January to one charge of obstruction of justice for concealing one of two bypass pipes. Sullesta is scheduled to be sentenced April 11. The vessel is operated by DST Shipping Inc. of Thessaloniki, Greece. According to the DA’s office, the company pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding and failing to maintain an accurate Oil Record Book. DST was sentenced to probation, in which it will be subject to special scrutiny. The company also paid a $1 million fine.

6 April 2005. A chief engineer has been given an eight-month jail sentence in the US after being found guilty of obstructing justice in relation to pollution offences. The master and second engineer of bulk Katerina could also face prison terms, while ship-owner DST Shipping has been fined $1m. Los Angeles Judge Florence-Marie Cooper argued that the violations were “planned and ordered by a despicable corporation” and that the engineer did “intentionally participate in these crimes.” But DST Vice-President Stavros Tsolakis yesterday disputed some of the claims made in a US Department of Justice press release. He added that the chief engineer, Edgardo Guinto, may be free in a matter of weeks. The 49-year-old Filipino national has already spent more than six months confined to a Los Angeles hotel room while fitted with an electronic tag. The other two seafarers should also find that their time on remand will be deducted from their sentences. According to the US Department of Justice, Mr Guinto pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge in January, admitting that he allowed the bypassing of the vessel’s oil-water separator. He is also said to have instructed ratings to remove and conceal the bypass pipe when the ship came into Long Beach, and to have made fraudulent entries in the vessel’s oil record book. The master, Ioannis Kallikis, 65, a Greek national, pleaded guilty in February to an obstruction of justice charge. The US Department of Justice maintains that Capt Kallikis admitted acting corruptly and with the intent to impede a US Coast Guard investigation. Capt Kallikis was due to be sentenced yesterday. Second engineer Rolan Sullesta, 42, pleaded guilty in January to one charge of obstruction of justice for concealing one of two bypass pipes used from US Coast Guard inspectors. Mr Sullesta is scheduled to be sentenced next Monday (April 11). DST, which is based in Thessaloniki, Greece, allegedly pleaded guilty to two felony charges related to this water pollution case and was fined $1m. The US Department of Justice claims that DST acknowledges that “on numerous occasions” during an approximately six-month period in 2004, Katerina discharged oil-contaminated bilge water and oil sludge into the ocean. “Furthermore, the shipping company acknowledges that it directed the Katerina crew to conceal the bypass pipe from US authorities,” it adds. But Mr Tsolakis countered that DST was not “despicable” but a quality operator with a 100-year history. All shore-based managers have a masters’ degree, while two have PhDs. In particular, Mr Tsolakis said, claims that the company sought to destroy evidence are “completely untrue and baseless.” Any liability arose from the actions of shipboard employees, not management. DST had not committed felonies itself, he insisted.

8 April 2005Ratna Shalini (India)

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) last night allayed fears of an environmental pollution at the Mombassa port following an oil spill earlier in the evening. The KPA harbour master and operations manager Twalib Khamis, confirmed that more than 50 tonnes of oil spilled into the sea after crude oil tanker Ratna Shalini (55,178 gt, built 1987) hit a jetty at Kipevu oil jetty. “Following the accident, we have had an oil spill but it is not of a large proportion,” he said. Mr Khamis said the accident happened at around 17:00 hour when the oil tanker was berthing. He said immediately after the accident, oil in the tanker was transferred from the damaged tank. “Right now, we have put up booms around the area where the spill took place to control the oil from spreading to other parts of the port,” he said. He said a combined team of both KPA and members of the Oil Spill Mutual Aid Group had managed to put the situation under control.

8 April 2005. An oil tanker crashed heavily against a dock at Kenya’s port of Mombassa, puncturing its hull and spilling 150 tons of crude oil into the sea, officials said today. Emergency workers placed booms around India-registered crude oil tanker Ratna Shalini to contain the spill after yesterday’s accident. Oil was quickly pumped out of the punctured compartment, said Captain Twalib Khamis of the KPA. The tanker spewed the oil into the harbour but it has not spread to the coastline nor affected shipping operations and fishing, he said. The single-hull vessel crashed against the dock because a fender that was intended to break the impact was not in place after its rope broke, Khamis said.

11 April 2005. A national agency will make claims against the owners of crude oil tanker Ratna Shalini, which spilled crude oil in Mombassa port. However, it will be a tiny fraction of what Kenya would have got in damages had it ratified the new international maritime law, experts said. The National Environment Management Authority will launch an environmental restoration claim against the vessel’s owners after it spilled more than 150 tonnes of crude oil into the sea. Yesterday, Nema deputy director Ali Mohammed said the owners will be held responsible for the damage to the environment caused by the spill. “We are currently consulting with the KPA’s legal department … we are going to lodge an overall and environmental claim against the vessel’s owners,” Mr Mohammed said. The vessel was unlikely to leave the port of Mombassa until matters related to the oil spill were settled, he said. The Nema official refuted reports that the oil spill had caused an adverse effect on marine life, saying initial assessment indicated that only mangrove in Port Reitz area in Mombassa Mainland West had been affected. “A survey on the beaches bordering Mombassa port had established that there was no major danger to marine life, save for affecting a section of mangroves in Port Reitz area,” he said. Mr Mohammed said about 2 km of mangroves in Port Reitz had been covered by oil on the lower leaves and said it was still too early to establish if this was going to kill the plants. Mr Mohammed also refuted reports that the oil spill had spread outside the port and said fishing in areas surrounding Mombassa port was going on, as usual, and no fish catches had any indications of having been affected. The KPA harbour master and chief operations manager Twalib Khamis said the clean-up was still going on in the affected areas and the situation would be reviewed continuously to ensure that all the oil was cleared. Maritime experts have said Kenya will receive only Sh10,000 compensation for the oil spill instead Sh530 million because of its delay in ratifying a new international maritime law. The Merchant Shipping Act, they said, provides for only Sh10,000 compensation for oil spills, while the International Maritime Organisation’s Civil Liability Convention provides for more than Sh530 million.

12 April 2005. The Government has fined the owners of an Indian ship that spilled tonnes of crude oil at Mombassa Sh78 million (£540,800). Making the announcement, Government officials said crude oil tanker Ratna Shalini had polluted the environment and must pay under the Civil Liability Convention to which Kenya is a party. Prof. Ratemo Michieka, the Director General of the National Environment Management Authority, said the ship, which spilled the oil last Thursday (April 7) would be detained at the port until a formal agreement is reached. The ship owned by Steamship Company of Indian will also not be allowed to sail away until it seals a hole. Prof. Michieka said the use of an oil dispersant helped to minimise the effects of the spill. He said an inspection was still going on to assess the effect of the incident.

14 April 2005. India Steamships, owner of crude oil tanker Ratna Shalini that was holed by a loose Yokohama fender at berthside in Mombassa on April 7, causing an oil spill within the harbour, has said agency reports of a hefty fine being imposed on the company are erroneous. “Any report that a fine of $1million is sought to be recovered from us is not correct,” said the Kolkata ship-owner’s MD Ashok Kak yesterday. Mr Kak added:In fact the claims of the Mombassa Port Authority have not yet been quantified. The P&I club, Steamship Mutual, acting on our behalf, has provided a security to the port authorities towards their claims, which are yet to be proved. The entire matter is being handled by the P&I club, with whom our vessel was insured, through its lawyers and experts. The vessel has been released and will sail at any minute. The oil discharged was in the region of 80-100 tonnes, no more.

Emergency workers, working round the clock, placed booms around the vessel, contained the spill and cleared the harbour. The coastline, fishing and shipping operations have remained unaffected. The damage caused to the environment also would have been minimal.