Conference on underwater pollution threats
Thousands of sunken warships, such as this Japanese vessel in the Marshall Islands, have the potential to cause pollution incidents across the globe.
An international conference, Wrecks of the World II: Evaluating and Addressing Potential Underwater Threats, will take place on 6 and 7 June in Maryland USA to investigate global pollution concerns.
Sponsored by the American Salvage Association (ASA) and the North American Marine Environmental Protection Association (NAMEPA), the conference will aim to provide an opportunity for an objective review and discussion of the current state of potentially polluting wrecks and to offer considerations to address the problem.
An international survey has identified over 8,500 sunken shipwrecks in marine waters around the world, including more than 1,500 sunken tank vessels and nearly 7,000 sunken non-tank vessels.
The survey (Michel et al, 2005) suggests these wrecks may contain as much as 20 million tons (140 million barrels) of oil and other hazardous materials. Sporadic or continuous leakages or potential sudden massive spillages from these wrecks, 75% of which stem from World War II, pose a continual risk across the globe.
The problem of potentially polluting wrecks has long been discussed and recent incidents around the world have caused government agencies and responsible parties to look proactively at preventing catastrophic oil and other chemical releases from long submerged shipwrecks.
The risk of oil and other hazardous materials seeping out of sunken shipwrecks is growing yearly, and the likelihood of leakage or even a massive spill occurring increases, as do the potential costs. Taking proactive rather than a reactive approach to mitigating this risk will save not only response costs, but also reduce the threat of environmental and socioeconomic damages.
From the viewpoint of environmental and economic impacts, there is little difference between oil spilling from a sunken vessel and oil spilling from a modern day vessel casualty, with the exception that, while there is no way to predict the location or timing of the next major oil spill, potentially polluting wreck sites are known and the probability of an spill event is quantifiable or even inevitable. There is ample evidence that there are a large number of wrecks in coastal waters that are spills waiting to happen.
Panelists include Hans van Rooij of Dutch salvage company Global Marine Solutions BV, Robert Tyson of Svitzer Salvage, and Nicola Goodwyn of ABP Marine Environmental Research.
Further information is available at: http://www.maritime-executive.com/files/WOWIIBrochure(9)04-18-11.pdf
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