To Remove or Not to Remove? Dealing with pollution risks from ship wrecks

Abstract

(ID: 2017-155) ABSTRACT The navigational and environmental risks posed by ship wrecks have presented a challenge to governments and the maritime industry for decades. In more recent years a consensus has developed worldwide based on assessing these risks and undertaking measures proportional to the severity of those risks. This approach has been formalised in the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks 2007. With recent developments in salvage technology and equipment, the options for pollutant removal from wrecks, and the removal of entire wrecks, are becoming viable for scenarios which were previously deemed infeasible. Together with a general heightened environmental concern worldwide about impacts to the marine environment, decision-making on wreck removal and associated pollutants is under the spotlight. Based on ITOPF’s extensive experience providing advice on pollution mitigation and environmental risks posed by wrecks, this paper examines recent issues in the treatment of wrecks. The authors highlight some key concerns regarding the equitable treatment of wrecks and argue that a more rigorous, technically-based decision making process be adopted and promoted to ensure clarity and consistency for all parties.

Spatiotemporal Analysis on Shipwrecks in Shatt Al-Arab River and Iraqi Marine Waters Northwest Arabian Gulf

“…Consoli et al (2015) reported that oil pollution is commonly resulted due to maritime accidents that significantly impacting marine environment and often portrayed by the media as environmental disasters with dire consequences predicted for the survival of marine flora and fauna, which therefore, mandatory for appropriate remediation and/or mitigation of the potential negative effects. In view of the potential hazards from wrecks and historical wrecks, many countries have recently developed comprehensive risk assessment systems to examine the wrecks impacts in their national waters (Whittington et al, 2017).…”

“…There are over three million shipwrecks scattered on the ocean floor around the world (UNESCO, 2008), where 8 -9 thousands of wrecks on global scale are considered as potential sources of pollution, where approximately 2.5 -20.4 million tons of oil residual inside the wrecks (Michel et al, 2005). The navigational and environmental risks posed by shipwrecks present big challenges to maritime industry along several decades ago (Whittington et al, 2017).…”