HARPER DAFFORN, AGE 14
THE LEGACY OF THE SEA
EMPRESS DISASTER
WHAT HAPPENED?
On the 15th February, 1996, the oil
tanker the Sea Empress ran aground
off the Pembrokeshire coast, spilling
72,000 tonnes of crude oil. Going
down in history as one of the 20
largest spills worldwide, this
catastrophic incident involved a
complex operation, the largest the UK
had seen in 30 years, to limit the
damage dealt to the shoreline and its
wildlife by the pollution.
19 years later, it is timely to ask what
the legacy of this disaster is for the
future conservation of our marine
environments. Even today, residents of
Pembrokeshire report seeing traces of
the oil spill on the pebbles of secluded
coves and in harbors. Are we prepared
for an incident of this type happening
again, or are we at risk of devastating
our world beyond repair?
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
There is no guarantee that a disaster of this kind will never happen
again for as long as we continue to use the oceans to transport massive
cargoes of oil. However, we can be ready to respond in a way that will
minimise the consequences.
The disaster educated us that with a reserve of manpower and
equipment, response and clean-up teams can be ready for rapid
mobilisation. Over 230 people from the Marine Pollution Control Unit,
Port Authority, Coastguard, and the ship itself worked ceaselessly to
refloat the vessel and curtail the escape of oil. However, due to
atrocious conditions sweeping the ship repeatedly back onto the rocks
and salvage experts struggling with inadequate machinery, these efforts
took six days. The report provided by the Marine Accident
Investigation Branch (1997) tells us that neither the salvage tugs nor the
equipment aboard the ship were built to handle such conditions. Apparently the larger tugs with “heavy towing equipment” and “high
bollard pull” should have been used. The report also claims that the powerful Coastguard tugs could not be made accessible in time
and that in the future these tugs “should be automatically be mobilized towards the scene”. The pollution control measures, invoked
to deal with the 72,000 tonnes of
crude oil that poured into the sea, were effective as they were
tonnes of oil mixing with the seawater. Using chemical
aimed at preventing the oil from reaching the shoreline.
dispersants to clean up oil spills at sea remains the priority for
Nearly 90% of the oil evaporated or was dealt with at sea
the future as it has the
leaving only 10-15
obvious benefit in
thousand tonnes of
protecting the
emulsion
shoreline. We also
produced by the
know that on-shore
3-5 thousand
operations can
involve long-term and intensive physical work until a degree
of control and recovery is achieved. 900 coordinated workers,
from major organisations to small groups of amateurs and
volunteers, worked round-the-clock for 4 months so that by
the time the tourists arrived the main beaches would be clear
of conspicuous oil.
David Levell, at the time a member of the clean-up team
reminds us, however, that appearances can be deceptive – the
consequences of the oil spill and the pollution of the
environment can persist for many years: “It is important to
remember that the application of dispersants does not get rid
of the oil. It simply relocates it from the surface of the water
into the water column where it is diluted and degraded over
time,” he says. He tells us that out of 100 different studies
carried out after the incident, “One of the longest lasting
effects was found in the invertebrate animal communities that
live in the soft sediments within the waterway. Some of the
populations of amphipods (small shrimp-like animals) took
more than 5 years to recover to their pre-spillage densities.”
Amongst the other casualties were the Scoters (a sea duck),
which were caught by the oil spill during their seasonal
migration. In fact, the numbers of bird victims exceeding
7,000 which were admitted into make-shift hospitals were but
a portion of the numbers hit. Shockingly, even those which
were freed post-treatment had, on average, just nine days left
to live.
Another important aspect of learning from the disaster is
the behind-the-scenes readiness. The report of the Pollution
Control Unit (1996) tells us “The basic requirements were all
in place in advance of the spill: a logistics structure, trained
teams specializing in at sea recovery, spray monitoring, and
shoreline clean-up techniques; stockpiles of equipment and
dispersants; and surveillance and dispersant spray aircraft.”
Yet readiness must be a top-to-bottom prearrangement.
By Harper Dafforn age 14
MrLevell reminds us that “Oil Spill Contingency Plans are
living documents and need to be exercised, reviewed and
updated continuously – they are useless if left on the
bookshelf gathering dust.” He refers to his own experience of
training and preparation prior to the Sea Empress, namely
that he had participated in a training exercise around a
hypothetical scenario just a few weeks beforehand, and this
made the response “so much more effective by already
knowing and working with the key players in the
environmental team”.
The equation for a disaster of this sort consists of complex
combinations of human error and adverse conditions. Most of
us can rest assured that the analysis following the event is
meticulously detailed and is less about assigning blame and
more about learning from the experience. If a tragedy like
this should happen again tomorrow, I, for one, am comforted
that everyone will be capable of working together and
drawing from previous experience of hard lessons learned.
With special thanks to David Levell.(Environmental Manager,
Milford Haven Port Authority)