The BalticWay Project
The ever increasing impact of the marine industry and the increase in risks associated with potential oil pollution from ship traffic or oil platforms, calls for novel
methods for mitigating beforehand the impact of risks on vulnerable areas. The
goal of the BONUS+ BalticWay initiative was to develop methods for preventive
reduction of offshore environmental risks caused by the maritime industry that are
transported by various metocean drivers to valuable sea areas. The idea was to characterize systematically the damaging potential of the different open sea areas in
terms of the potential transport to vulnerable regions if faced by an oil spill or other
pollution. This way, by placing maritime activities in the safest offshore areas, the
consequences of potential accidents can be minimized before they occur.
Traditionally risks of maritime industry are associated with possible accidents
that may lead to loss of lives or property, or to environmental pollution. The management of environmental risks has been much focussed on small areas around the
installation or the ship in question. However, the technological progress has led to a
new paradigm in the treatment of such risks that are no more located in small areas.
The amounts of harmful substances potentially released to the sea have increased
to a level that are of acute danger to the ecosystem or to society, even in seemingly
remote and safe locations hundreds of kilometres from the accident site.
The approach employed in this initiative was based on a smart use of the existence of semi-persistent patterns of transport which affect considerably pollution
propagation as well as drift of various items such as vessels without propulsion,
rescue boats or lost containers. These patterns make the probability of transport of
dangerous substances or undesired items from different open sea areas to vulnerable
sections highly variable. For certain areas this probability is relatively small and reor directing activities to these areas would appear to be feasible as well with very
limited additional costs.
The central goal was thus to quantify the offshore areas in terms of the potential
of adverse impacts released in a particular area to be transported by metocean drivers
to certain vulnerable regions. The gain is expressed in terms of the probability of
pollution transport to the vulnerable areas and the time pollution takes to reach
xiii
The ever increasing impact of the marine industry and the increase in risks associated with potential oil pollution from ship traffic or oil platforms, calls for novel
methods for mitigating beforehand the impact of risks on vulnerable areas. The
goal of the BONUS+ BalticWay initiative was to develop methods for preventive
reduction of offshore environmental risks caused by the maritime industry that are
transported by various metocean drivers to valuable sea areas. The idea was to characterize systematically the damaging potential of the different open sea areas in
terms of the potential transport to vulnerable regions if faced by an oil spill or other
pollution. This way, by placing maritime activities in the safest offshore areas, the
consequences of potential accidents can be minimized before they occur.
Traditionally risks of maritime industry are associated with possible accidents
that may lead to loss of lives or property, or to environmental pollution. The management of environmental risks has been much focussed on small areas around the
installation or the ship in question. However, the technological progress has led to a
new paradigm in the treatment of such risks that are no more located in small areas.
The amounts of harmful substances potentially released to the sea have increased
to a level that are of acute danger to the ecosystem or to society, even in seemingly
remote and safe locations hundreds of kilometres from the accident site.
The approach employed in this initiative was based on a smart use of the existence of semi-persistent patterns of transport which affect considerably pollution
propagation as well as drift of various items such as vessels without propulsion,
rescue boats or lost containers. These patterns make the probability of transport of
dangerous substances or undesired items from different open sea areas to vulnerable
sections highly variable. For certain areas this probability is relatively small and reor directing activities to these areas would appear to be feasible as well with very
limited additional costs.
The central goal was thus to quantify the offshore areas in terms of the potential
of adverse impacts released in a particular area to be transported by metocean drivers
to certain vulnerable regions. The gain is expressed in terms of the probability of
pollution transport to the vulnerable areas and the time pollution takes to reach
xiii