Machinery oil leakage has greater impact on marine environment than Exxon Valdez

In fact, over 30m gallons of oil is leaked from ships during normal operations in ports and harbours every year – more than three times the

Exxon Valdez

oil spill, David Gilmour, Castrol’s director marine lubricants, has revealed.This startling statistic was highlighted during the launch of a Castrol-led campaign to raise awareness of environmental damage caused by this often forgotten source of pollution.

Together with EcoPorts, IMarEST and ProSea, Castrol intends to deliver the GreenShip programme early next year to inform the industry on oil leak and spillage issues and to motivate the industry into taking positive action to reduce the impact of oil entering the marine eco system.

According to Mr Gilmour, machinery failure and human error are the major contributing factors, although he cited industry data suggesting that leakages of five to 1,000t have dropped dramatically in the last few years.

The objectives of the campaign are to make the industry aware of the operational leakage and discharge of oil and its effects on the marine environment and to think about ways of reducing the amount of operational leakage of oil.

The campaign will comprise a series of articles and advertisements that will run in the trade press throughout the year, the development of a policy and practical guidelines for prevention of oil leakages in seaports and a series of workshops on prevention and treatment of oil leakages in seaports.

Peter Barham, Associated British Ports’ sustainable development manager, said that all marine professionals need to have knowledge of the impact of shipping has on the environment. “ABP and EcoPorts are pleased to be a part of the process. Environmental issues have gone up and up in terms of profile and while we work hard to ensure that our ports grow to meet the demands of the shipping industry we need to do this in an environmental way.”

One immediate solution to reducing the problem of oil leaks is through the use of biodegradable oils. “These can reduce the environmental impact of ship operations, but we also need to urge the shipping industry to think about ways they can help reduce the amount of oil leaked and spilled when vessels are in ports. Reducing human error is absolutely vital if we are to tackle the problem,” said Mr Gilmour.