1 Towards Mitigation of Environmental Risks
13
The first operational model targeted at a preventive reduction of environmental
risks is the system of dynamical relocation of tugboats along the Norwegian Atlantic
coast (Eide et al. 2007). Its basic function is the forecast of risks caused by the potential loss of propulsion or steering of vessels along the fairway, and the subsequent
drift and grounding.
1.8 Site-Specific Cost of the Consequences
The developments of the last decades in physical oceanography and biological marine sciences have not only demonstrated the richness of the internal structure of
different sea properties but have also led to establishing a number of marine protected areas. This practice reflects the natural assumption that different sea areas
may have different value and/or vulnerability.
There exists a natural division of confined seas into open sea and coastal areas.
The generic problem in shipping consists in avoiding a coastal crash (or grounding)
of vessels. The coastal areas are generally the major life reproduction areas and thus
play a major role in restoring the fish stock. The map of marine protected areas of
the Baltic Sea (Fig. 1.3) signifies that they are mostly located in the nearshore, with
a few exceptions to the south and north of the island of Gotland and in the northern
part of the Pomeranian Bay. While marine pollution on the open sea kills a number
of creatures, coastal pollution additionally destroys the possibility of birth of new
life. Combating oil pollution on the open sea is generally much more effective and
less expensive than in shallow coastal areas; thus keeping the oil spill or the damaged
ship in the open sea causes the least damage.
This division is also obvious from the viewpoint of oil pollution or the release
of other dangerous substances to the marine environment: hits on a major spawning area, a nesting or wintering region of birds, a beach of a national park, a large
tourist industry location, or important infrastructures operating at some sections of
the coast or offshore are highly undesirable. For the listed reasons the nearshore
areas are used in this book as a generic example of ‘high-value’ regions. They are
better to be avoided by ships and their hit by oil pollution is highly undesirable.
Such an approximation allows presenting the basic ideas in a simple and transparent
framework. In essence, its use causes no loss of generality, because the developed
method is applicable for a wide range of descriptions of consequences as well as in
many other marine-transport-related problems.
An obvious solution for waterborne transport for the protection of coastal and
nearshore areas consists in a shift of the fairway to the open sea, far enough from
any valuable or vulnerable region. This is only possible for very large water bodies
such as the Atlantic Ocean and cannot be used in smaller seas such as the Black Sea,
the Baltic Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea.
The above example of whales, however, vividly demonstrates that some offshore
sea areas are clearly more valuable than others. This line of thought is reflected
in terms of legal formulations by the International Marine Organization concept of
particularly sensitive sea areas (Lefebvre-Chalain 2007).
13
The first operational model targeted at a preventive reduction of environmental
risks is the system of dynamical relocation of tugboats along the Norwegian Atlantic
coast (Eide et al. 2007). Its basic function is the forecast of risks caused by the potential loss of propulsion or steering of vessels along the fairway, and the subsequent
drift and grounding.
1.8 Site-Specific Cost of the Consequences
The developments of the last decades in physical oceanography and biological marine sciences have not only demonstrated the richness of the internal structure of
different sea properties but have also led to establishing a number of marine protected areas. This practice reflects the natural assumption that different sea areas
may have different value and/or vulnerability.
There exists a natural division of confined seas into open sea and coastal areas.
The generic problem in shipping consists in avoiding a coastal crash (or grounding)
of vessels. The coastal areas are generally the major life reproduction areas and thus
play a major role in restoring the fish stock. The map of marine protected areas of
the Baltic Sea (Fig. 1.3) signifies that they are mostly located in the nearshore, with
a few exceptions to the south and north of the island of Gotland and in the northern
part of the Pomeranian Bay. While marine pollution on the open sea kills a number
of creatures, coastal pollution additionally destroys the possibility of birth of new
life. Combating oil pollution on the open sea is generally much more effective and
less expensive than in shallow coastal areas; thus keeping the oil spill or the damaged
ship in the open sea causes the least damage.
This division is also obvious from the viewpoint of oil pollution or the release
of other dangerous substances to the marine environment: hits on a major spawning area, a nesting or wintering region of birds, a beach of a national park, a large
tourist industry location, or important infrastructures operating at some sections of
the coast or offshore are highly undesirable. For the listed reasons the nearshore
areas are used in this book as a generic example of ‘high-value’ regions. They are
better to be avoided by ships and their hit by oil pollution is highly undesirable.
Such an approximation allows presenting the basic ideas in a simple and transparent
framework. In essence, its use causes no loss of generality, because the developed
method is applicable for a wide range of descriptions of consequences as well as in
many other marine-transport-related problems.
An obvious solution for waterborne transport for the protection of coastal and
nearshore areas consists in a shift of the fairway to the open sea, far enough from
any valuable or vulnerable region. This is only possible for very large water bodies
such as the Atlantic Ocean and cannot be used in smaller seas such as the Black Sea,
the Baltic Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea.
The above example of whales, however, vividly demonstrates that some offshore
sea areas are clearly more valuable than others. This line of thought is reflected
in terms of legal formulations by the International Marine Organization concept of
particularly sensitive sea areas (Lefebvre-Chalain 2007).