Full City oil spill
| Full Cityoil spill | |
|---|---|
 Full Cityaground on the island of Saastein / Såstein | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 58°58′15″N9°42′38″E/ 58.970833°N 9.710556°E |
| Date | 31 July 2009 |
| Cause | |
| Cause | The ships anchor slipped, the vessel crew failed to start the main engine during a storm, and the vessel ran aground on Lille Såstein Bird Sanctuary. |
| Operator | COSCOHK |
| Spill characteristics | |
| Volume | 200,000 kg |
| Shoreline impacted | 75 km (47 mi) |
TheFull City oil spillwas a major fueloil spillincident that occurred on July 31, 2009 when thebulk carrierFull Cityran agroundon theislandofSåstein,south ofLangesund,Telemark,Norway.The ship, said to be operated by aHKsubsidiary ofCOSCOwith 23 crew members on board,[1]spilled around 200 tons[2]of IFO-380heavy fuel oil,[3][2]as well as 120 tons ofdiesel fuel.The oil contaminated 75 km ofNorwegian coastline,includingLangesund,Vestfold,and the Lille SåsteinBird Sanctuary.There were oil slicks in approximately 200 locations along the shoreline betweenLarvikMunicipalityand Lilles.[4]
Days before the incident, ships were alerted about a gale inSkagerrak.The following day there were warning alerts for gale ofBeaufort scalelevel 10 towards the southeast, which persisted throughout the day. The ship suffered engine failure and ran aground in stormy conditions that evening. The winds started to decrease and eventually stop a couple hours after the oil spill. TheNorwegian Safety Investigation Authorityinformed that the Full City drifted toward Såstein approximately at 9:50 pm, due to strong winds and waves from southwest. Conservationists critiqued how authorities prioritized the 23 crew members instead of acting rapidly to set up barriers.
After the accident the wind speed suddenly decreased, with calm conditions being present on the first of August. Decreased wind allowed for the oil to be contained more easily. Significant oil slicks were seen north-northeast of the accident. Areas southeast of the accident contained a large amount of oil approximately two days after the spill. Exact details regarding the amount of oil spilled remains unknown, and further observations of the southwest amount of oil remains undetermined. The amount of oil found was low in the southeast 50 km range from the spill.[5]
The oil spill was reported at night and the oil spill response actions started working the next day. A large amount of the oil spilled in ecologically sensitive areas, including asea birdsanctuary that was home to 2000eider,covering thousands of the birds in oil. Although volunteers made efforts to save them, many of the birds had to be shot due to the irreversible damage to their health.[2]On Sunday August 2, 2009 a group of environmental specialists began working at a rapid rate to clean up the disaster that was left behind from the oil. It took over 16,000 weekdays to restore the coastline and clean the entirety of the oil spill. The total estimated cost for all of this work to reverse the harm of the spill was about 25 millionEuros.2 million Euros were used for a program of environmental monitoring of the affected area until 2014.
TheInstitute of Marine Researchran tests on the affected areas to track any significantecological impactsbut noted that themarineandfishlife suffered no significant impacts. The research was included in a study of four oil spills that occurred in the Norwegian coastal area, including the Rocknes Oil Spill,[6]the Server Oil Spill, and theGodafossOil Spill.[7][4]
TheMasterandThird Officerof the ship were both charged with violating the Pollution Control Act due to their failure to take adequate measures to prevent pollution of the marine environment from this accident. The master was also found guilty of violating the Ship Safety and Security Act. The Master was sentenced to 6 months with 120 days suspended, and the Third Officer was sentenced to 60 days with 39 days suspended.[8]Officials feared that they would evade punishment, however, both of these individuals were detained in Norway for four and a half months. However, they were released on bail; coming back to Norway fromChina,presenting themselves in front of theSupreme Court.As of April 2010 the ship was inGothenburgfor repairs indry dock.[9]
See also
[edit]- List of oil spills
- MARPOL 73/78- Environmental agreement
References
[edit]- ^"Cosco HK is named as owner behind 'Full City'".tradewindsnews.com.20 August 2009.Retrieved20 December2020.
- ^abcWalton, Greg (8 August 2009)."Norway cleans up after oil spill".Independent.Retrieved23 November2015.
- ^Wojciech Moskwa (3 August 2009)."Norway police charge ship captain after fuel spill".Reuters.Retrieved16 May2010.
- ^abBoitsov, S. (22 March 2013)."Experiences from oil spills at the Norwegian Coast".Rapport Fra Havforskningen(23): 1–34.Retrieved23 November2015.
- ^"Usefulness of high resolution coastal models for operational oil spillforecast: the 'Full City' accident".
- ^"Norwegian Shipwreck Under Investigation as Oil Slick Spreads".www.ens-newswire.com.Archived fromthe originalon 2015-11-26.
- ^"Ship grounding sets off oil spill".
- ^"Court sentences crew in the aftermath of the Full City oil spill".International Law Office.Online Media Partners. 8 December 2010.Retrieved23 November2015.
- ^"Full City under repair in Gothenburg".Ships and Harbours.5 November 2009.Retrieved30 May2010.
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