Shipping endangers oceans despite regulation

Dubai: Shipping is the biggest pollutant of the world's oceans although it is the most regulated industry, said the head of a marine protection association based in the Mediterranean.

"Oceans are endangered by pollution irrespective of laws and more needs to be done to protect our seas since they are all interlinked," said Dimitris Mitsatsos, director general of the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMEPA), while speaking at the Emirates Environment Group's monthly community lecture.

Human factor

"The human factor is greatly responsible for pollution and needs to be checked. The role of the shipping industry is to protect the seas and coasts from pollution through the help of different stakeholders.

This is the reason why marine environmental protection associations should be established," said Mitsatsos. He said the UAE has 70 to 80 oil tankers passing through its waters everyday carrying 60 per cent of the total quantity of crude oil, causing the Gulf to suffer from chronic oil pollution.

"Shipping is the worst culprit, but is it the most regulated industry. There are 167 governments involved in protecting the marine environment.

Essentially 90 per cent of pollution comes from land based sources," said Mitsatsos. He added that oil has even been found in the Antarctic although it has no refineries.

Management

Mitsatsos said management of hazardous waste such as oil sludge from oil terminals is still a big problem.

He emphasised that marine protection associations have an important role to play in educating seafarers and monitoring all activities offshore. However, shore reception facilities are lacking. This would help in the collection of sludge, ballast and everyday rubbish from ships that are not able to dock.

"Oil spills are still occurring but they are decreasing over the years. The law for shore reception facilities was passed in 1983 but still today there are not enough of these facilities to accommodate the huge number of ships," he said.

Environmental damage

Hotspots for oil spills:
According to the Oil Spill Intelligence Report (OSIR), the Arabian Gulf was classified as one of the hot spots for oil spills from vessels in 1997. It had 108 spills carrying at least 10,000 gallons between 1960 and 1995.

The Arabian Gulf came fourth after the Gulf of Mexico which had 267 spills, the northeastern US with 140 spills, and the Mediterranean Sea with 127 spills during the same time.