Monitoring maritime traffic. The types of transported oil. Oil recovery vessels. An oil disaster serious harm to the Baltic Sea

MILLION TONNES Turnover in the Baltic Sea oil terminals 3 5 The Baltic Sea states mutual assistance How are the Baltic coastal states prepared to tackle oil spills? The assistance of neighbouring states is required in cases of major oil accidents. The HELCOM agreement sets forth the principles for requesting and rendering assistance among the Baltic Sea states, which drill in oil-recovery vessel cooperation in the annual Balex Delta exercises. The amount of oil transported in the Baltic has increased significantly, particularly in the Gulf of Finland, with the opening of new Russian oil harbours. There are now 17 large oil harbours in the Baltic Sea. The annual oil transport has already exceeded 5 million tonnes per year and the amount is expected to grow. 15 1 5 1 3 5 6 7 8 9 1 The growth of oil transport in the Baltic Sea. The volume of transport is expected only to keep growing. The amount of oil transported from Russian ports alone, when ships under all flags are included, could reach 18 million tonnes by. Source: HELCOM (1 values estimated by SYKE). Number of reported accidents in the Baltic Sea 1 1 TOTAL NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS: 168 NO. OF ACCIDENTS 16 1 1 POLLUTION NO POLLUTION 8 13 5 NO INFORMATION 9 1 1 11 The goal is to recover as much oil as possible in the open sea before it can reach the archipelago or shore. If an oil spill reaches the shore, its clean-up is difficult and expensive recovering a litre of oil from a beach is ten times more expensive than recovering the same amount from the sea. More information at www.helcom.fi www.environment.fi/oil Porvoo Naantali 133 8 6 1 The Balex Delta exercises test the alert procedures and response capability of all nine Baltic coastal states, along with vessels chartered by The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), in the event of a major accident. They are the most prominent of the regularly conducted HELCOM pollution-response exercises as well as being the biggest emergency operation of their kind in the Baltic Sea and one of the largest worldwide. Through the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, governed by HELCOM, Baltic coastal states have committed to cooperate to effectively respond to any oil spills by collecting the oil with vessels specially equipped for this purpose. The Convention limits the use of dispersants. 5 61 15 11 11 Muuga 15 111 95 6 1 3 1 3 5 6 7 8 9 1 Ship accidents in the Baltic, 1 1. Some 1 1 accidents occur annually, with approximately ten causing small oil spills. The most common causes of accidents are groundings (%) and collisions (3%). Due to a new reporting format, the data for 1 3 is not fully comparable with the data for 11. Source: HELCOM. With the contribution of the Civil Protection Financial Instrument of the European Union. Photos: The Finnish Defence Forces, The Finnish Border Guard, Finland s environmental administration, Maritime Office Gdynia, Johanna Laurila/HELCOM, Anu Valing / Diving Club Maremark and Jouko Pirttijärvi/SYKE. Layout: Satu Turtiainen. Print: Lönnberg Ltd, Helsinki, 1. OIL RECOVERY Co-operation in the Baltic Sea Ventspils Gothenburg Weekly ship traffic in the Baltic Sea. The bold line denotes the areas where traffic is heaviest. Approximately, large vessels are plying the Baltic at any given moment. The most important oil harbours in the Baltic Sea area are marked with red dots. Source: HELCOM. Butinge Klaipeda Kalundborg Fredericia Kaliningrad Rostock Gdansk Riga Vysotsk Primorsk St Petersburg Ust-Luga

Oil recovery vessels An oil disaster serious harm to the Baltic Sea The effectiveness of oil-recovery vessels depends on weather conditions, the thickness and quality of the oil in the water and the vessel s speed. Ships sail slowly during recovery; for example, if the thickness of the oil on the water is half a millimetre and the vessel s average speed two knots, 16 Finnish oil-recovery vessels could recover some 83 cubic metres of oil per hour. Despite oil-recovery efforts, the Baltic s delicate ecosystem would suffer serious damage in the event of a major oil spill. An accident during the migration period of birds, for example, would coat thousands in oil - only some could be cleaned while the rest would have to be put down. The rarest species would be cleaned first if cleaning oiled wildlife is adopted as a strategy by a HELCOM country. About 7 oil-recovery vessels equipped with mechanical recovery equipment are in operation in the Baltic. EMSA has reinforced the capacity for fighting oil spills by contracting oilrecovery vessels in the northern and southern Baltic areas. Oil also poses a hazard for fish spawning grounds and fry, shore vegetation as well as sea-floor populations since it destroys phytoplankton and zooplankton, although plankton populations regenerate relatively quickly after oil damage. Oil fumes are dangerous to humans and animals when inhaled. Swallowed oil damages the alimentary canal as well as the liver and kidneys. Oil can also cause skin damage and should not be handled without protective equipment. Oil forms a slick film on the sea s surface, tempting birds to land on the water. Oil destroys the water proofing of a bird s plumage, causing hypothermia and starvation. Winter conditions pose particular challenges in the development of oil cleaning equipment such as brushes. Finnish Environment Institute has developed several oil in ice recovery equipment such as the oil recovery bucket shown in this image. The economy of the Baltic Sea region is growing and so is the maritime traffic, while the sea itself remains one of the most vulnerable marine areas in the world. A tanker is being loaded in Gdynia, Poland. The types of transported oil Monitoring maritime traffic There are many types of oil transported on the Baltic. Tankers transport crude oil and products refined for use as fuel. Power plants and ships most commonly use heavy fuel oil for fuel. The whole Baltic Sea area has been covered by HELCOM landbased Automatic Identification System (AIS) stations since 5, making the Baltic the first region in the world capable of monitoring maritime traffic in real-time. While light oil products such as petrol, diesel and light fuel oil are the most toxic to the aquatic environment, they nevertheless evaporate from the surface within a day. Heavy fuel oil congeals in the sea and does not evaporate. Monitoring is particularly important within the narrow straits of Denmark and the Gulf of Finland, where the challenging navigation makes the area particularly prone to ship accidents, as evidenced by annual statistics. Some heavy fuel oils are heavier than water. Recovering oil that has sunk deep is difficult since booms can only prevent the spreading of oil lying close to the surface. Crude oil quickly spreads on the surface and its light components evaporate immediately, after which no further components evaporate or mix with the mass of water. All efforts will be made to clean as much oil as possible on the open sea, as agreed by the Baltic coastal countries in the Helsinki Convention. However, being such a small sea area it is likely that some oil will reach the shores should a major oil spill occur. Cleaning up pine oil in Kaskinen, Finland a slow and labour-intensive job. Booms are used also to protect the shoreline from oil. Monitoring is under the responsibility of different maritime authorities in different countries of the Baltic Sea. Regular exercises, such as the annual Balex Delta, play an important role in ensuring smooth communication and coordination. Photo from the Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre in Helsinki.