The following is a statement from the Clean Arctic Alliance:
On Saturday 23 June 2018, a collision between a tanker and the jetty in the Port of Rotterdam – Europe’s biggest seaport, resulted in a heavy fuel oil (HFO) spill. Despite the immediate mitigation actions taken by the crew of the vessel and resources on-shore, 217 tonnes of HFO are estimated to have spilled from the fuel tank. “This is an environmental disaster for the local area and a stark reminder of the need to urgently ban the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil by Arctic shipping to prevent similar disasters happening in the Arctic”, said Dr Sian Prior, Lead Adviser for the Clean Arctic Alliance.
In media reports, a clean-up operation is underway and efforts are being undertaken to rescue oiled birds, but it seems likely that not all affected animals will be saved. The clean-up operation could take days if not weeks according to the Port of Rotterdam. Reports indicate that over 1,000 birds have so far been affected by the oil, including hundreds of swans which have been taken to a nearby bird sanctuary for treatment once the birds have been stabilised.
If such a disaster struck in the Arctic, it is unlikely that an adequate response could be put in place due to its remoteness. The limited availability of equipment and personnel to recover the oil, absence of safe holding or disposal locations for recovered oil, and complete absence of wildlife rehabilitation facilities mean that an effective response would be virtually impossible depending on the local conditions, oil spill response equipment might not be suitable, and oil could get stuck under sea ice and travel long distances before it seeps out again, with no prediction as to where that will happen. “A HFO spill is a tragedy anywhere in the world, and our thoughts are with those mounting the wildlife rescue and clean-up operations in the Netherlands”, said Dr Prior, adding that “this residue of the oil refining process should be banned for use in ecologically sensitive areas, including the Arctic in order to minimise the risk of environmental damage in the event of a spill”.
Photo credit: Clean Arctic Alliance
Published: 28 June 2018
Approximately 160 mt of the 200 mt of spilled oil had been cleared by Wednesday morning.
In an ESCA survey, 44% of respondents said investing in technologies that would cut carbon emissions will no longer be possible after Covid-19.
Forms agreement with E.ON and DeltaPort to implement battery container or hydrogen refuelling services in pilot project at Wesel.
Energy required in global production of LSFO produces far more GHG than production of HSFO, says research.
More than 320,000 gallons of oil and water mixture removed from 26 fuel tanks inside the car carrier.
Incident took place at 0440 hrs during offshore bunkering operations in Anchorage 1 of the Port of Nqura.
Legal representatives met at the High Court on Tuesday to discuss the discharge of KPMG liquidators from all liability in respect of conduct in the course of winding up, show court documents.
Global sentence adjusts to 80 month’s imprisonment term for both Chang and Koh under application of the Masui sentencing framework; fine of SGD 6.2 million against Chang remains unchanged.
Company has been ranked EIGHTH for 2020; ‘we are humbled and proud to be placed amongst the top ten winners of the Enterprise 50 Awards,’ says Satnam Singh, COO, Sing Fuels.
Mads Bjornebye, Manager of Bunker Services at Teekay Tankers Ltd, shares about the company’s perspective of e-BDNs, bunker purchasing & planning tools, while offering his thoughts on future marine fuels.
Maritime sector may find it increasingly challenging to manage bunker prices, Dennis Ho, Managing Director at ElbOil Singapore tells Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times.
NBF mulls use of blockchain-based registry of trade finance transactions as secure central database for the banking industry to streamline documentation processes and resolve transparency issues.
