UK – Recent counter pollution
R&D activities
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
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
Objectives
Move “far from market” project areas
 Target stakeholder beneficiaries
 Fair stakeholder funding
 Reduce financial burden on MCA

kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
Limiting viscosity project
Controversial issue
 Innovative approach
 4 stakeholders


Responder, regulator, industry, MMS
Contributions in kind
 Limited funding available

kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
Sea trials - 2003
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
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
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
Consequences of not doing

MCA open to
challenge on
dispersant
philosophy (happens
anyway)
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

Limited data to
demonstrate
benefits
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
Project Funding Partners
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
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
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
Wreck site
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
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
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
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
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
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
Design of large scale waste
treatment plant






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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 determinekevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
plant footprint requirements.
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
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
Very Heavy Fuel Oils
Risk analysis of their transport in UK
waters
Kevin Colcomb, UK Maritime and Coastguard
Agency
MIMAC – BRUGGES
OCTOBER 2006
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
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
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
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
VHFO Traffic in the UKPCZ
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk

No direct information
from commercial
sources

Statistical data
sources:
– EUROSTAT
– IEA
– UK Government
– Etc.
UK production and consumption of RFO (DTI, 2003)
11,517
394
PRODUCTION
IMPORTS
-6,385
EXPORTS
-867
INTERNATIONAL MARINE
BUNKERS
REFINEY USE
-2,022
OTHER USES
-1,540
15,000
10,000
5,000
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
0
Thousand tonnes of RFO
-5,000
-10,000
NW Europe Production and Consumption (EUROSTAT, 2002)
25000
Production
Exports
Domestic Supply
20000
Imports
International Marine Bunkers
Thousand tonnes
15000
10000
5000
0
-5000
BE
DK
FR
DE
-10000
-15000
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
IR
NL
NO
UK
RFO imports to Netherlands ’93’05
(IEA, 2003 and EUROSTAT, 2005)
18,000
16,000
Thousand Tonnes
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
Year
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
2002
2004
2006
RFO exports from Russia
(Poten
and
Partners,
2005)
Seaborne
Russian
Fuel oil Exports
50,000
Black Sea
45,000
Baltic Sea
40,000
thousand tonnes
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1998
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
1999
2000
2001
Year
2002
2003
2004
Major transfers of VHFO cargoes through
UKPCZ
From
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Estonia
Germany
United Kingdom
Russian Federation
France
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Belgium
United Kingdom
Italy
Russian Federation
Netherlands
Sweden
Netherlands
Quantity
(thousands of
tonnes)
16,811
3,916
2,167
1,621
1,540
1,283
1,258
1,169
949
875
812
762
638
634
628
536
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
To
Non W. European Destinations
Netherlands
Netherlands
United States
United Kingdom
France
United Kingdom
Italy
Spain
United States
United States
United Kingdom
Spain
United States
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
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
Is it possible to estimate
bunkers?

2004 Dover Strait vessel traffic data supplied, including:
– Vessel class
– Vessel deadweight tonnage







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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
Trends – BP Review
of World Energy 2004
Global Demand for RFO
800
Bunkers
Inland demand
700
Million tonnes
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1990
1995
2000
2005
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
Year
2010
2015
2020
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
VHFO bunkers and cargoes routeing
Legend
UK Pollution Control Zone
Annual tonnage
40,000,000 to 50,000,000
30,000,000 to 40,000,000
20,000,000 to 30,000,000
10,000,000 to 20,000,000
5,000,000 to 10,000,000
2,000,000 to 5,000,000
1,000,000 to 2,000,000
0 to 1,000,000
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk
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
kevin.colcomb@mcga.gov.uk