Management of Oil Pollution (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Environmental Management): Revision Note

Strategies for oil spill prevention

• Preventing oil spills helps protect marine life and coastal habitats

• Prevention focuses on reducing the chance of accidents and leaks before they occur

• These strategies involve:

  • international rules

  • safer ship design

  • better ship maintenance

MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships)

• MARPOL is a global agreement that sets rules to reduce pollution from ships

  • This global treaty includes strict limits on how ships handle oil, waste and chemicals

  • It requires ships to use approved equipment and follow safe procedures

  • It also helps reduce illegal dumping and accidental discharges

Double-hulled oil tankers

• Double-hulled tankers are ships built with two layers of steel around the oil storage area

• The extra layer gives protection if the outer hull is damaged

• This reduces the risk of oil leaking after collisions or grounding, making oil transport safer for marine ecosystems

Risk assessments

• Ship operators assess potential dangers along shipping routes

  • This helps them identify shallow waters, reefs, busy ports or hazardous weather

• Risk assessments allow safer navigation and reduce the chances of accidents that could cause spills

Regular maintenance

• Another strategy is regular inspection and repair of ships, pipelines and equipment

  • Ensures pumps, valves and storage tanks work safely

  • This reduces the number of leaks caused by corrosion or mechanical failure

Strategies for minimising impacts of oil spills

• When prevention strategies fail and oil spills do occur, quick action reduces harm to wildlife, water quality and coastal habitats

• Strategies aim to:

  • contain the oil spill

  • remove the oil

  • break down the oil in the environment

Improved navigation systems for ships

• Modern systems such as GPS and radar improve accuracy and control

• This reduces collisions, groundings and human error

• Better route planning helps ships avoid dangerous areas and lowers the chance of spills

Booms and sorbents

• Booms—floating barriers placed around oil spills

  • Contain the oil and stop it spreading across the water

• Sorbents—materials that absorb oil from the surface

  • Useful for cleaning smaller spills or oil patches remaining after other strategies have been used

Detergent sprays

• Detergents break oil into tiny droplets

• These droplets mix with water more easily

• This makes it easier for natural process to break down the oil

• Detergent sprays can help to reduce surface slicks that harm birds and mammals

  • However, overuse can affect marine life as the detergents also act as pollutants themselves

  • Some detergent chemicals are toxic to fish, shellfish and plankton

  • Detergents must be applied carefully and only when necessary

Skimmers

• Skimmers—machines that collect oil from the water’s surface

  • These machines remove oil physically and store it for safe disposal

• They can be used effectively in calm waters and can help to reduce the thickness of oil slicks quickly

Controlled burning

• Controlled burning involves burning the oil on the water’s surface

• This strategy removes large amounts of oil rapidly

• It can be useful when oil is thick enough to ignite safely

• Can help to prevent the spread of pollution

  • However, releases smoke and air pollutants

  • Should be used only when the benefits outweigh the risks