With Indian ports handling 112 million tonnes of oil annually and with a record of 10 instances of major oil spills within Indian waters over the past 12 years, India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences has developed a computer simulation model which can track oil spills in real-time and to predict the areas it would hit.
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SHOCKING DISCOVERY IN SINGAPORE WATERS |
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As per national estimates, around 500 million tonnes of crude oil is carried by approximately 3500 tankers, which pass along India’s coast on an annual basis. The model hence assumes importance as India faces a high risk of oil spills particularly as the Western part of the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone, Lakshadweep and the Nicobar Islands lie close to one of the major oil tanker routes originating from the Gulf countries heading towards South East Asia. According to an official from the Ministry, the Integrated Coastal Marine Area Management Project Directorate (ICMAM-PD) that developed this model, also aims to develop specific models for 42 economically, ecologically, environmentally and archaeologically sensitive areas in the country which fall along crude oil tanker routes; twenty highest risk locations will be tackled first. The ICMAM-PD has reported that it would require Rs. 1 crore for developing the specific models for the twenty sites, which include Mumbai, Goa, Kerala, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Port Blair, the Andaman and Nicobar islands amongst others. ICMAM-PD told reporters that once the location and quantity of an oil spill is known, the model would be used to predict the likely path the spill will travel, and the affected shorelines. Apparently the models can be combined with real-time data, and used by the Coast Guard and other related authorities to deploy preventive measures, such as strategic deployment of booms and skimmers.
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A recently purchased tanker, M.T. Snow White mysteriously went missing while she had been anchored off Dubai and appeared in Singapore waters as M.T. Kwang Min.
The Snow White was carrying 1,800 metric tones of diesel worth over USD 1 million and was scheduled to sail for the Indian Ocean to transport oil to Korean fishing vessels when contact with the ship was lost on 21st October while she was in the Oman Sea. Neither the captain nor the ship manager could be contacted. The ship’s owner informed all his associates as well as the Maritime and Interpol authorities of the case. It was reported that the owner had bought the Snow White from a Korean on 12 October 2006 in Dubai and the Korean was then appointed as the ship’s manager. Meanwhile, a business associate of the owner heard of a vessel, M.T. Kwang Min, for sale and found that it was suitable for his company that supplies marine oil to India. However, after examining the certificates, the prospective buyers realized the ship was actually the Snow White and not the Kwang Min as was painted on the ship. Upon realizing the ship was stolen and had her name changed, the police were informed of the shocking discovery and a lawyer was hired to secure a legal order to seize the vessel. The ship’s captain, manager and seven other crewmembers are still missing and investigations are in the process. |
OIL POLLUTION DISASTER IN THE PHILIPPINES |
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A barge carrying 59,000 sacks of sludge from a devastating oil spill near Guimaras Islands, Philippines capsized off the southern island of Mindanao while it was being towed to a processing plant there. |
than 125 miles of coastline in the central Philippines. In addition, due to bad weather, around 1.4 million litres of oil that is trapped in the wreck still remains to be siphoned off. A spokesperson for the oil refiners that had chartered both the barge and the Solar 1 has reportedly claimed that the company had sent equipment to clean up the latest sinking. He also reported that there was “a thin layer of oil, like a rainbow on the water, not thick sludge,” in an attempt to brush off concerns raised by environmentalists. |