11 Applications of an Oil Drift and Fate Model for Fairway Design
371
in the sailing time (that represents a risk factor in itself and an economical factor
as well). The result is a design and evaluation of optimum fairways under environmental and economical viewpoints (Sect. 11.5). The remainder of the chapter
is devoted to the analysis of surface wave impacts on the current-driven oil propagation (Sect. 11.6). Along with the use of an advanced oil drift model, accounting
for the impact of surface waves is another key development here as waves have not
been taken into account during the fairway design process described in the above
chapters. To complete the picture, wave related changes in the regional and local oil
drift patterns are studied in some detail.
11.2 Oil at Sea
Oil is a toxic chemical substance that—when handled in large quantities at sea—
puts the marine and coastal environment at extreme risk of being rendered severely
polluted or inhabitable for a considerable span of time. Oil may be released into the
environment from drilling (production) platforms, from pipelines, or from vessels.
An oil spill is usually the consequence of some sort of accident. It may take place
abruptly, or during an extended time span, potentially of the order of months.
11.2.1 Oil Spills
Although the largest single oil spills released to the marine environment stem from
offshore oil platforms and spills from underwater pipelines also form a notable part
of the oil releases (Burgherr 2007), definitely the largest number of oil spills in the
marine environment result from transporting oil at sea. The size of spills originating
from a vessel varies several orders of magnitude (Dalton and Jin 2010; Jerneloev
2010), depending mainly on whether oil is the cargo, or the vessel’s driving agency.
In the first case, several 100,000 tonnes of crude oil may be lost to the environment,
in the second case, of the order of 1,000–10,000 tonnes of refined (fuel) oil may
be released. Since a vessel contains a limited amount of oil, spills from vessels are
often, but not always, of relatively short duration, and can sometimes be regarded
as instantaneous. The damage to the environment, however, may last for decades
or even be permanent (Monson et al. 2011). Potentially, an oil spill may wipe out
entire species.
Until now, the Baltic Sea has been spared of major sized oil spills, which could be
disastrous in this almost enclosed marine environment. The Gulf of Finland has been
particularly lucky, with only two sizeable accidents or misbehaviours within the last
decade (Soomere and Quak 2007; Wang et al. 2008). The largest spill so far to
take place was the Globe Asimi accident, outside Klaip˙ eda, Lithuania in 1981, when
16,000 tonnes of oil were lost to the environment (Midboe and Persson 2004). More
371
in the sailing time (that represents a risk factor in itself and an economical factor
as well). The result is a design and evaluation of optimum fairways under environmental and economical viewpoints (Sect. 11.5). The remainder of the chapter
is devoted to the analysis of surface wave impacts on the current-driven oil propagation (Sect. 11.6). Along with the use of an advanced oil drift model, accounting
for the impact of surface waves is another key development here as waves have not
been taken into account during the fairway design process described in the above
chapters. To complete the picture, wave related changes in the regional and local oil
drift patterns are studied in some detail.
11.2 Oil at Sea
Oil is a toxic chemical substance that—when handled in large quantities at sea—
puts the marine and coastal environment at extreme risk of being rendered severely
polluted or inhabitable for a considerable span of time. Oil may be released into the
environment from drilling (production) platforms, from pipelines, or from vessels.
An oil spill is usually the consequence of some sort of accident. It may take place
abruptly, or during an extended time span, potentially of the order of months.
11.2.1 Oil Spills
Although the largest single oil spills released to the marine environment stem from
offshore oil platforms and spills from underwater pipelines also form a notable part
of the oil releases (Burgherr 2007), definitely the largest number of oil spills in the
marine environment result from transporting oil at sea. The size of spills originating
from a vessel varies several orders of magnitude (Dalton and Jin 2010; Jerneloev
2010), depending mainly on whether oil is the cargo, or the vessel’s driving agency.
In the first case, several 100,000 tonnes of crude oil may be lost to the environment,
in the second case, of the order of 1,000–10,000 tonnes of refined (fuel) oil may
be released. Since a vessel contains a limited amount of oil, spills from vessels are
often, but not always, of relatively short duration, and can sometimes be regarded
as instantaneous. The damage to the environment, however, may last for decades
or even be permanent (Monson et al. 2011). Potentially, an oil spill may wipe out
entire species.
Until now, the Baltic Sea has been spared of major sized oil spills, which could be
disastrous in this almost enclosed marine environment. The Gulf of Finland has been
particularly lucky, with only two sizeable accidents or misbehaviours within the last
decade (Soomere and Quak 2007; Wang et al. 2008). The largest spill so far to
take place was the Globe Asimi accident, outside Klaip˙ eda, Lithuania in 1981, when
16,000 tonnes of oil were lost to the environment (Midboe and Persson 2004). More