MSC Napoli grounded in Lyme Bay in January 2007

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Although oil and chemical spills are generally short-term and localised, their effects can be significant. We could not assess the regional impact of accidental spillages of oil and chemicals, because in general they are logged as the number of incidents reported rather than as volumes lost. Most happen in major shipping lanes or where the offshore oil and gas industry operates. We have high confidence in the estimates of oil lost from offshore platforms as the UK Government has a mandatory reporting requirement, but our confidence is lower in relation to spills from ships, because these are usually detected using aerial surveillance and satellite data rather than being reported by those responsible.

In 2007, the most recent year for which data are available, there were 654 accidental discharges of oil from ships and offshore platforms into UK waters, an increase of 29% in discharges from ships and 13% in discharges from platforms compared to 2006. However, most were small, with only 47 incidents involving the loss of oil or chemicals in excess of 2 tonnes. We could not assess compliance with the OSPAR Ecological Quality Objective (EcoQO) for the proportion of oiled common guillemots found on beaches around the North Sea due to a lack of monitoring data; however, in Orkney and Shetland, the EcoQO has been met and the proportion of oiled guillemots is decreasing. The only incident of note since Charting Progress involved the container ship MSC Napoli which was beached in January 2007, spilling a total of 302 tonnes of oil, of which 150 tonnes affected Lyme Bay on the Devon/Dorset coast. The incident was effectively dealt with by the Secretary of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and only had a small local impact on seabirds.

The growing traffic in heavy fuel oils from the former Soviet Union past UK coasts is raising the risk of accidental spillages of oil and chemicals, as is the increasing size of container vessels.

Prevention is better than cure. The best hope of reducing incidents comes from international efforts to ensure that the best modern ships and well-trained and efficient crews are passing through our waters. Other mitigation measures, such as traffic separation schemes and the provision of emergency towing vessels, are in place. The UK also has a good response capability, under the umbrella of the National Contingency Plan for Dealing with Pollution from Ships and Offshore Installations.

In the absence of a major spill, oil and chemical spills are generally of relatively minor significance in preventing progress towards the UK vision of clean and safe seas.