Shanghai Expo 2010, Sino-Italian Development Cooperation Programme
SHANGHAI Expo, Sino-Italian Development Cooperation Programme
Seminar on “Management of Protected Areas and Technology for Biodiversity Protection”
September the 13th, 2010, Shanghai (P.R. of China)
ARGOMARINE: Integration of Gepositioning and Automatic Oil Spill Monitoring in a Marine Information System
Michele Cocco and Mario Tozzi
National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago,
loc. Enfola, 57037 Portoferraio – Isle of Elba (LI), Italy
ABSTRACT
Short Sea Shipping is a central part of the logistics chain of transport in Europe, delivering nearly 40% of the total tonne-kilometres per year, only superseded by road transport with 44% (Ferraro, 2006). Between 1995 and 2004 the transport in this sector increased by 32% in EU-25 countries, and while increase in sea transport can be desirable from an economic point of view, it places a growing burden on the marine and coastal zone environment due to the risk of pollution.
Some ocean areas are particularly exposed. For example, in the Mediterranean Sea the oil transport is intense, since it gives maritime way to Europe, for the oil produced in Middle East, in the Northern Africa and in Caspian basins. According to Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC, 2002), 360-370 million tons of oil and refined products is transported annually through Mediterranean Sea, representing 20-25% of the world total. Maritime traffic in the Mediterranean is characterized by the existence of a large number of ports in the region (more than 300), and by a significant volume of traffic that transits the Mediterranean, without ships entering any of these ports. The East Mediterranean Sea is a high-risk area for pollution as the Black, Red and Mediterranean Seas are interconnected.
Due to very high marine traffic density, Mediterranean Sea is often quoted as one of the places in world with the highest risk of oil pollution. Transportation of large quantities of crude oil and refined products, narrow and congested straits through which ships enter and exit the Mediterranean, large number of ports, large number of islands especially in certain areas with high traffic density are increasing the risk of oil pollution in the region. Thus, decision-makers in this region have a strong need for an efficient pollution monitoring and forecasting system, which supports them in planning and conducting preventive and emergency interventions. Such system must provide timely and reliable access to all available observations and forecasts for the area of interest, and seamlessly integrate these as well as software for analysis, decision-support and dissemination.
Recent events such as the Prestige and Erika tanker accidents have shown that there is also a strong need for improved pollution monitoring and forecasting in other European Seas. In the average, about 60 maritime accidents occur per year, 15 of them involving ships provoking oil/chemical spills. The increase in transport of oil and other dangerous chemicals in Northern European and Arctic Ocean areas, such as the Barents Sea, further extend the demand for marine pollution services to support early warning and planning of mitigation actions to reduce the environmental impact.
Details of the event
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