EMSA’s Pollution
Response & Detection
Services
PAJ Oil Spill Symposium 2008

1Bernd Bluhm
Head of Unit
Pollution Response

European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)
BackgroundPost-Erika (2002: EMSA established)
Post-Prestige (2004: new tasks include pollution response)
2

Agency of the European Community• Own legal identity• No legislative role
• Technical and operational support

1

EMSA provides operational support• A European network of oil recovery vessels• Setting up a network of chemical experts
for responding to HNS spills

3• A satellite monitoring and surveillanceservice• EMSA experts service to second the MS andthe EC during the marine pollution response
operations

Major European Oil Spills >10,000 Tonnes
Year

Name of the Vessel

Tonnes spilled

Countries affected

1989

KHARK 580,000Portugal/Morocco

1989

ARAGON

25,000Portugal

1990

SEA SPIRIT

10,000Spain/Morocco

1991

HAVEN

144,000

Italy

1992

AEGEAN SEA

73,500

Spain

1993

BRAER

84,000

United Kingdom

1994

NASSIA

33,000Turkey1994

NEW WORLD

11,000Portugal

1996

SEA EMPRESS

72,360

United Kingdom

1999

ERIKA

19,800France2002

PRESTIGE

63,000Spain42Large oil spillsin Europeanwaters

5Spills >700 tonnes
Spills >10,000tonnes

Recent major incidents in Europe

6ErikaDec.1999; 20,000 tons HFO spilledPrestige
Nov. 2002; 63,000 tons HFO spilled

3Oil Pollution Response Equipment

7Different Methods for
Mechanical Recovery

Network of Stand-by Oil Recovery Vessels
Concept:• Vessel carries out normal commercial service• Request from Member State for assistance• Short notice transformation into oil recovery vessel

8Pre-spill Preparation:• Appropriate modification to vessel made in advance• Rapid installation of equipment• Operated safely by trained crew
Vessels classed as “Occasional / Oil Recovery Vessels”

4Common characteristics• Pre-agreed model contract (fixed fees and conditions)• Obliged to react positively to all requests for assistance(regardless of the spill location)

9• The primary oil recovery system is based around the“sweeping arm” concept with an alternate “ocean goingboom and skimmer” system• The requesting Member State selects the equipment inaccordance with the incident characteristics

Common characteristics• Speed: Over 12 knots for prompt arrival on site
• Decanting: Capability to “decant” excess water fromrecovered oil/water mixture. Maximising the utilisationof the on board storage capacity

10• Cargo Heating & Pumping: Capability to heat & pumpoil/water mixture for improved discharging• Slick Detection System: Range: ~ 2 nautical miles
Increased opportunity for oil recovery operations• Manoeuvrability

5

EMSA contracted Oil Recovery Vessels
BunkerTankerBunkerTankerOil
TankerOil
TankerProductTanker

Baltic Sea
Porvoo /Finland&Copenhagen / Denmark(Max 2 vessels can bemobilised)Ile deBrehat

CableRepair
VesselAtlantic Coast andChannelBrest / France

GalpMarine

Oil
TankerAtlantic Coast
Sines / Portugal

ForthFisher
GalwayFisherMerseyFisherProductTanker
ProductTanker
ProductTanker

Atlantic CoastCork / Ireland(Max 2 vessels can bemobilized)

Tinka
BreezeOphelia
OtiliaTellusTank Capacity( m³)

Oil Spill
Response
Equipment

Draug
ht (m)

Commercial
Operation Area &Equipment Depot

Breadth (m)Type oftheVessel

L.O.A
. (m)

Nameof theVessel

1,800

84.05

13.72

5.30

2,005

74.90

14.00

5.70

6,936

106.20

15.99

7.17

9,889

105.00

18.00

7.92

10,475124.50

18.10

7.60

4,000

123.90

23.40

8.01

3,023

82.98

12.50

5.00

4,754

91.00

15.58

5.10

4,754

91.00

15.58

5.10

5,028

91.40

15.50

6.02

4 Flex. Sweeping arms
2 Brush skimmers
2 Arctic skimmers
2 Booms (400m/500m)
2 Slick detection
systems

11

2 Rigid sweeping arms
1 Weir skimmers
1 Boom (500m)
1 Slick detection system
2 Rigid sweeping arms
1 Brush skimmer
1 Booms (500m)
1 Slick detection system
2 Rigid sweeping arms
2 Weir skimmers
2 Booms (250m each)
2 Slick detection
systemsBahia
TresOilTanker

Bahia
UnoBunker
VesselMediterranean Sea
Algeciras / Spain(Max 1 vessel can bemobilised)

SalinaBay

Bunker
VesselMistraBayht (m)

Draug

Tank Capacity( m³)

th (m)

Commercial
Operation Area &Equipment Depot

BreadType oftheVessel. (m)Nameof theVessel

L.O.A

EMSA contracted Oil Recovery Vessels

7,413

99.80

18.00

7.00

3,800

71.01

15.60

5.80

Mediterranean Sea
La Spezia / Italy

2,800

74.70

13.10

5.53

Bunker
VesselMediterranean Sea
Valletta / Malta

1,805

86.03

13.04

5.19

SantaMaria

Bunker
VesselMediterranean Sea
Valletta / Malta

2,421

93.1

14.5

6.82

Aktea
OSRV

Oil
Tanker

Aegean Sea
Piraeus / Greece

3,000

78.78

12.60

4.87

Oil Spill
Response
Equipment
2 Rigid sweepingarms
1 Brush skimmer
1 Boom (500m)
1 Slick detection
system
2 Rigid sweepingarms
1 Weir skimmer
1 boom (500m)
1 Slick detection
system
2 Rigid sweepingarms
1 Weir skimmer
1 Boom (500m)
1 Slick detection
radar system
2 Rigid sweepingarms
1 Weir skimmer
1 Boom (500m)
1 Slick detection
system
2 Rigid sweepingarms
1 Weir skimmer
1 Boom (500m)
1 Slick detection
system126

EMSA Vessels and Equipment Stockpiles

13

HNS Action Plan: Scope• Focus on ship-sourced pollution
involving the release of HNS inthe marine environment
14• Initially covers bulk cargoes ofHNS/large quantities of HNStransported(packaged goods may beaddressed in the future)

7

HNS Action Plan: Objectives• Overview of existing available HNS information––––

Current regulatory & response structures across the EU
HNS trade & transport in EU waters
Fate, hazards, risks & impact of HNS marine pollution
Past HNS incidents & possible operational response options

15• Framework for developing EMSA’s HNS activities–––

Facilitate the exchange of specialised HNS knowledge
Provide scientific, technical and operational support toMember States & the Commission
Make an added value contribution at EU level, by topping-up
existing response capacities

HNS Actions: 2008
• Analysis and dissemination of statistical information
regarding seaborne transportation of HNS in Europeanwaters• Network of specialised HNS experts to advise and support
the Member States during the response to an HNS incident:M-ICE

16• Study: Minimum technical requirements for a “safeplatform” to respond to marine HNS incidents• IMO model training course on preparedness for andresponse to marine HNS pollution incidents (entitled HNSSupervisor)

8

The CleanSeaNet oil spill detection service
RADARSAT
1 and 2ENVISAT

1730 min

EMSA/EU Coastal States

Satellite radar for detecting oil spills• SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) “illuminates” the ocean surface
and processes the back scatter signal. This signal contains
information on the level of roughness of the sea surface.
• The dampening effect of floating oil films enables SAR sensors todetect oil slicks.
• Limitations: as sea roughness
is driven by the local wind speedand direction.
• Despite these limitations, satellite
SAR imagery has proven to bean effective tool to detect oil spills
at sea as it has the capacity to coverlarge areas (up to 400 Km wide)
day and night and is almost
unaffected by cloud cover.

18

Smooth surface

Rough surface

9CleanSeaNet alert is delivered in less than
30 minutes from the satellite overpass• Alert via e-mail and byphone• Satellite image
available via a webmap browser

19© MDA/CSA/EMSA 2007

1731 possible oil spills detected in 200720

10

CleanSeaNet Operational Support : Emergencies
Spain, Ibiza• Dom Pedro incident• July 2007
• 1 scene ordered
Spain, Gibraltar• New Flame incident• Sept 2007
• 11 scenes ordered

21Black Sea, Kerch Strait• Nov-Dec 2007
• 13 scenes ordered
Norway, Statfjord-A rig accident• Dec 2007
• EMSA as the project manager
for the International Charter

Future development of the CleanSeaNet service• Integration of oil drift forecast and hind castmodels• Identification of suspected polluter

22– Systematic integration of satellite image information
with numerical back-tracking models and– Ship routing information, e.g. AIS (AutomaticIdentification Systems) or the coming LRIT (LongRange Identification and Tracking)

11

EMSA’s Pollution Response Expert Service
EMSA provides MS and the EC with technical andscientific assistance on request. The provision ofexpertise by the Agency can be characterised on
the following basis:
23•

On-site personnel providing support acrossa range of issues including equipment
selection and response coordination,•

Personnel providing support as part of thecentral response coordination of the MS.

Thank youfor your attention
24

Further information available at:www.emsa.europa.eu

12