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Oil Spill
The evolving nature of
oil spill response Andy Nicholl, principle preparedness & response authority at Oil Spill Response Ltd., discusses considerations responders need to be aware of as new marine fuels are developed.
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Oil spills can have a catastrophic impact on the environment.
HE TOPIC OF Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (LSFO) was thrust into the spotlight in July 2020 when the MV Wakashio vessel ran aground in Mauritius. At the time journalists noted that this fuel is relatively new to the market, some referring to it as a ‘Frankenstein fuel’. Over 30 years ago, only two types of marine fuels were considered to be the main concern: Fuel Oil (FO) and Marine Diesel Oil (MDO). Since this time, a raft of emission control regulations have been developed and implemented by the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). In the period 2007–2012, annual greenhouse gas emissions from shipping amounted to approximately 1,000 Mt of CO2, representing around 3% of global man-made emissions (IMO, 2015). Reducing this burden is important in terms of the Paris Agreement commitments, and further regulations are expected in the future to support the ongoing drive to decarbonise shipping. There are two principal ways in which
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operators of ships can comply with the regulations: • Use of compliant fuel, collectively referred to as Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (LSFO). • Continuing to use traditional high sulphur fuels, but investing in exhaust gas aftertreatment to remove (“scrub”) sulphur from the exhaust gases. The traditional marine bunker fuel market has consequently been supplemented by a wide range of new, cleaner next-generation fuels, designed to comply with the prescriptive specifications required under the Global Sulphur Cap. Other fuels that have the potential for contributing to this revolution include Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG),
The new-generation blended low-sulphur fuels have a much broader range of pour points.”
methanol, bio-fuels, synthetic methane, hydrogen and ammonia. But what happens when one of these new fuels is accidentally spilled in the marine environment? Responders, such as Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), are familiar with the characteristics of conventional Fuel Oil and Marine Diesel Oil, together with the respective clean-up techniques that can be applied in the event of a spill, but the new generation fuels are potentially very different. Fundamentally, whenever an unfamiliar oil type is spilt, there are five questions responders need to know:
1. Will it flow? The pour point is the temperature below which the oil ceases to flow. This is determined by the chemistry of the oil including the presence (or absence) of wax and other constituent compounds. Oil spilled into a marine environment quickly assumes the surrounding sea’s ambient temperature, however, if the sea temperature is below the pour point of the oil, the oil will cease flowing and behave as a semisolid, highly viscous material.
