UK – Recent counter pollution R&D activities

1. UK – Recent counter pollution R&D activities kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

2. CPR Research Projects • Currently - 9 research projects running • All collaborative – unusual in MCA • Approx £670,000 worth of funding • Feed into or back up NCP philosophy • Support operational requirements kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

3. Objectives • Move “far from market” project areas • Target stakeholder beneficiaries • Fair stakeholder funding • Reduce financial burden on MCA kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

4. Limiting viscosity project • Controversial issue • Innovative approach • 4 stakeholders • Responder, regulator, industry, MMS • Contributions in kind • Limited funding available kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

5. Sea trials - 2003 kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

6. Outcomes • sea temperature of 15ºC • oil viscosities of 2,000 cP (IFO-180) • 7,000 cP (IFO-380) • waves associated with wind speeds of between 7 and 14 knots kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

7. Ecological effects of dispersant use • Primary UK response method • Controversial, often disputed • Operator/regulators/industry funding • Will feed into Defra review • Competent contractor • Benefits – All stakeholders involved and agreed kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

8. MCA open to challenge on dispersant philosophy (happens anyway) Limited data to demonstrate benefits Consequences of not doing kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

9. Resource mapping project • Update 1990 paper based maps and produce new digitised maps • 10 stakeholders – public/private • Challenging project management • Essential stakeholder involvement • Question of contractor competence kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

10. Project Funding Partners kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

11. kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

12. Outcomes • Highlighted the need for government wide standards of data collection, storage, etc • MAGIC website is maintained / regularly updated by Defra • We can add new data – places of refuge? • www.magic.gov.uk kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

13. ECE monitoring • Anglo / French joint ops • Qu of phosphate impact on ecosystem • Deliberate release or recover – cost?! • Defra / MCA – collaboration / funding • PML / Soton Uni – 2 discrete projects • Outcome – no real impact – OK to release kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

14. Project outputs • Project evaluation • Marine Information Note • Project Report – on MCA site • Greater benefits through collaboration with OGD’s and Industry kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

15. New projects • Waste management (potential showstopper) • Not mainstream MCA work area • But successfully pulling stakeholders together • Overall benefits to UK plc • Potentially polluting shipwrecks • Surface cleaner efficacy kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

16. New projects 06/07 • Design of large scale waste treatment plant • Techniques for dealing with submerged and sunken oil • HNS Risk assessment kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

17. Potentially polluting wrecks • To identify locations and identity all potentially polluting wrecks in UK waters. • Establish methodology to best calculate quantities and types of pollutants are present on each wreck type. • Agree best format for database structure – including how best to categorise information. • To provide a clear, well structured and searchable, dynamic GIS based database creating a knowledge platform which will readily facilitate risk assessment exercises for all UK waters and coastline. kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

18. Evaluation of surface cleaners • To develop robust protocol in electronic format for cleaning hard rock surface and man made structure using a range of cleaning techniques • Development of a decision making tool to aid the identification of appropriate, fit for purpose techniques for a range of oil and emulsion types over a range of hard substrates. To produce a guidance manual for shoreline clean-up operatives describing best practice for cleaning hard coast structures. • To develop a robust guide for developing environmental impact assessments for each cleaning technique, to include primary methodology for mitigating environmental damage. kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

19. Design of large scale waste treatment plant • To design a treatment plant capable of dealing with thousands of tonnes oily waste. • To determine best technology and specific machinery for each element of the operation taking into account a range of waste types. • Critically appraise relative costings for each available process • Identify sourcing of appropriate equipment • To establish relationships between process treatment technology and nature of material to be processed. Water content, sand and gravel, fines, large foreign debris • To establish criteria for siting of waste process plant - logistics, to the satifaction of all UK environmental regulators. • To determine plant footprint requirements. kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

20. Techniques for dealing with submerged and sunken oil • To identify parameters and their significance essential to develop realistic modelling of partially submerged and sunken VHFO’s in seawater. • Develop a methodology to incorporate such algorithms into existing modelling capability. • To determine appropriate and realistic oil recovery techniques for submerged and sunken oils. kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

21. HNS Risk assessment • To identify the highest risk HNS for the UK PCZ and determine priorities for modelling and practical work. • To determine the fate and effects of higher risk HNS in the marine environment. • Produce a guidance document, easily searchable for prediction of fate and effects of generic higher risk HNS. kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

22. Very Heavy Fuel OilsRisk analysis of their transport in UK waters Kevin Colcomb, UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

23. What are VHFOs? • Not an industry standard definition • Purposely used term to distinguish heavier fuel oils from lighter fuels • Defined as FOs of 380cSt or higher at 50°C • Transported VHFO includes: • Cargoes of Residual Fuel Oil • Bunkers of IFO380, IFO500, IFO700 kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

24. Production of VHFOs • VHFO cargoes are RFO from refineries • Almost all RFO can be categorised as VHFO • Examples are Erika (555cSt at 50°C) and Prestige (615cSt at 50°C) • VHFO bunkers produced by blending RFO with lighter oil products • VHFO bunkers used by ships with slower engines kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

25. Properties of VHFO in seawater • Initial viscosity increases to 20,000 – 50,000 cSt or almost solid • Remain in thick layer, fragmenting after a few days • May sink, drop below waves or float below surface • Do not respond to dispersants • Can be difficult to recover even by mechanical means kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

26. VHFO Traffic in the UKPCZ • No direct information from commercial sources • Statistical data sources: • EUROSTAT • IEA • UK Government • Etc. kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

27. UK production and consumption of RFO (DTI, 2003) kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

28. NW Europe Production and Consumption (EUROSTAT, 2002) kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

29. RFO imports to Netherlands ’93-’05(IEA, 2003 and EUROSTAT, 2005) kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

30. RFO exports from Russia (Poten and Partners, 2005) kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

31. Major transfers of VHFO cargoes through UKPCZ kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

32. Bunkers • Very difficult to determine accurate information for IFO380+ bunkers: • Cannot determine from statistics • Blending to grade may occur at point of sale • Estimation techniques inaccurate (e.g. vessels > 20,000 DWT tonnes) • In 2002, 27 million tonnes of RFO sold for ‘international marine bunkers’ in NW Europe and Baltic (EUROSTAT, 2003) but does not include • Russia • Domestic traffic • Vessels not bunkering in NW Europe • ‘International marine bunkers’ data is also a confusing term and may be misreported in statistics kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

33. Is it possible to estimate bunkers? • 2004 Dover Strait vessel traffic data supplied, including: • Vessel class • Vessel deadweight tonnage • Typical bunker tank size data obtained for each class • Assume tanks on average half full • Assume vessels >20,000 DWT tonnes carry IFO380+ • Bunkers passing through Dover Strait in 2004 = 30 million tonnes • Value seems high compared with other estimates, perhaps because tanks not always filled when bunkering • Also does not include non-Dover Strait vessels in UKPCZ • Bunker volume results inconclusive: probably between 20 and 30 million tonnes in UKPCZ • For routeing plots, 30 million tonnes in UKPCZ used kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

34. Trends – BP Review of World Energy 2004 kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

35. Trends in UKPCZ • VHFO Cargoes almost doubled in volume between 1998 and 2003: 1998 26 million tonnes 2003 50 million tonnes • Imports to Netherlands increased from 8 million tonnes to 16 million tonnes (1998 to 2003). • Russian RFO traffic thro’ Baltic Sea increased from 12.5 million tonnes to 27.5 million tonnes • Estimate that bunkers increased from 23 million tonnes to 30 million tonnes but no accurate data kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

36. VHFO bunkers and cargoes routeing kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

37. Thank you for listening That’s the sharp end - not so sharp as it used to be of course. Questions? Kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

38. kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk