New horizons: Dealing with major oil spills from non-tanker sources (2011)

Dr Michael O'Brien

Keynote presentation at the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) - Oil Spill Workshop 2011, Tokyo, Japan, March 2nd

Large oil spills from tankers have been falling in number over the years. At the same time, overall public sensitivity to smaller, non-tanker spills has grown at an even faster rate. As a result, ITOPF has found it beneficial to diversify over the past decade into non-tanker incidents.

This paper starts by discussing the topic of declining tanker spills and ITOPF's work with non-tankers. It looks at what is meant by the terms "non-tankers" in terms of sources and the terms "large" and "major" in terms of size. It continues with what the new dimensions for response to non-tanker spills might be, before reviewing some of the main issues in marine oil spill response, whatever the source. It finishes with a brief look at the need for preparation and R&D.

Category: Papers