Author(s): Kari Lampela; Jorma Rytkonen
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Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: The risk of a marine oil spill increases with the increasing presence and interest in shipping, offshore exploration and tourism activities in the Arctic, the Antarctic and other ice-affected waters, such as the Baltic Sea, Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea, Sea of Okhotsk and north Caspian Sea. However the Arctic and ice covered seas are highly vulnerable because of the harmful consequences of oil. Thus, increased awareness of the risks and the options available to respond to oil spills are needed. Even though the risk of an oil spill is minimised by better maritime practices and jointly adopted international or regional risk prevention measures, we still have to deal with the consequences if a marine oil spill occurs. Oil spill response in ice and in cold climates is completely different from spill situations in thermal waters. The ice conditions more or less fully dominate the situation. The presence of drifting pack ice in high concentrations and low temperatures often make the strategies and techniques developed for open sea conditions useless. This chapter will give an overview of the main topics related to oil spills, and combating oil spills in ice. First, some aspects of different oils, oil behavior in icy conditions, and environmental impacts are dealt with. The processes involved and oil spill countermeasures that are used, or have shown potential in cold and icy conditions, are presented. At the end of the chapter a conclusion and future needs and recommendations summarize the topic.
Year: 2014