Port oil spills – what lessons can be learned?

But what lessons can be learned to help ports tackle what is an all too common occurence in port waters given the increase in bunkering operations?

Act quickly and have your contingency plan in place – and that’s just what the Port of Gibraltar did.

Spill response

Between 1,000 and 2,000 litres of very low sulphur fuel oil were estimated to have spilled from the tanker Gas Venus when it experienced an overflow of its tanks while taking on bunkers on 1 August.

The oil incident gave the Gibraltar Port Authority the opportunity to start implementing its oil spill contingency plan in conjunction with the state’s Department of Environment.

As an associate member of Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), the country is able to call on its resources and equipment to assist in any major incident.

OSRL provided a Tier 2 oil spill response service for the Gibraltar Port Authority through local service provider Brightside Services Limited.

This included rolling out booms in Rosia Bay, in addition to specially equipped vessels skimming the area for free-floating sheen with sorbent booms.

At the same time, coastal cleanup was ramped up with low-volume, high-pressure washing.

OSRL and Brightside Services Limited’s response capabilities have been put to the test in recent years, having been involved in both the cargo ship Fedra oil spill in 2008 and the Gibraltar Port Tank Farm Fire in 2011.

Ongoing investigation

In addition to the oil spill response, the Government of Gibraltar then acted to detain the captain of the vessel pending an investigation.

He has subsequently been released and the LPG tanker was permitted to leave the port on 10 August as all evidence has been collected for the ongoing investigation.

In a statement, the Government of Gibraltar said: ”The detention order has been lifted under the authority of the Captain of the Port upon the receipt by the Gibraltar Port Authority of a cash bond to the sum of £1.5 million.”

The money will ensure that the costs of all oil spill response and cleanup operations are covered.

Certain sections of areas of Rosia Bay are still cordoned off from public access whilst monitoring activities continue. 

Members of the public are asked to respect the cordons to avoid any further environmental damage and to allow the recovery of marine life as soon as possible.