Case study – 3. Oil pollution

A ULCC built in 1977 and without fully segregated ballast, was loading in an Arabian Guld port. As required by local regulations, the vessel was loading and discharging simultaneously. The ballast consisted of clean sea water loaded into cargo tanks, which was segregated from the incoming oil by at least 2 valve separation. However, cargo lines containing oil passed through the tanks containing water.

Despite MARPOL recommendations, no ballast reception facilities existed at this port, and all ballast was discharged to the sea. When the ballast tanks were getting close to empty, sheen of oil was seen on the surface of the sea. This rapidly worsened, and deballasting was stopped.

Lessons learnt:

At the time of the pollution incident, it was impossible to ascertain the cause of the pollution. 6 weeks later, after discharging in the US Gulf, it was possible to enter the tanks for an inspection. It was found that a hole had developed in one of the lines loading oil, allowing oil to contaminate the ballast. This line had been pressure tested during the previous ballast voyage, and found to be tight. Unfortunately, due to the age of the vessel, this kind of material failure is always going to be a risk.

This type can take place even on the most modern of tankers. It’s one in which evidence in mitigation is very difficult to obtain at the time of the incident and is blamed on the ship’s staff. The ship was fined $25,000 plus clean-up costs.

1. Answer the questions.

1. What was the region of the ULCC’s navigation?

2. What were the local requirements?

3. How was the deballasting operation carried out?

4. Were there any appropriate conditions for the deballasting operations?

5. What was the reason of the deballasting termination?

6. What was the result of the inspection carried out in the port of the US Gulf?

7. What are the risks with the cargo lines on the aged vessels?

8. Is such situation possible on modern tankers?

9. What was the penalty for this incident?

10. Were there any additional charges to penalty expenses?

2. Read the text and find a word or phrase which means the following.

1. ______________________Ballast water introduced into a tank permanently allocated to the carriage of ballast.

2. ______________________A place that international shipping ports must provide to collect residues, oily mixtures, and garbage generated from an ocean-going vessel.

3. _______________________A thin, glistening layer of oil on the surface of water.

4. _______________________To pollute the water carried in ships’ ballast tanks to improve stability, balance and trim.

5. _______________________To penalize.

3. Decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F). Correct the wrong ones.

1. A ULCC built in 1977 and without fully segregated ballast, was loading in Persian Gulf port.

_______

2. The ballast consisted of cool sea water loaded into ballast tanks, which was segregated from the incoming oil by at least 2 valve separations.________

3. Despite MARPOL recommendations, ballast reception facilities existed at this port, and all ballast was discharged to the sea._________

4. 6 weeks later, after discharging in the US Gulf, it was still impossible to enter the tanks for an inspection._________

5. It was found a hole had developed in one of the lines loading oil, allowing oil to contaminate the ballast. _______

6. The ship was fined $25,000 plus clean-up costs.______