Environmental and economic loss analyses of the oil discharge from shipwreck for salvage planning.

In this study, we carry out environmental and economic loss analyses of the oil discharge from the shipwreck Jeh Hun. By performing 500 simulations of hypothetical oil spill cases, we obtain the minimum and worst damage cases. In the minimum damage case, there is just marine pollution without coastal pollution or aquaculture farm pollution. On the other hand, in the worst damage case, there is serious marine pollution, coastal pollution, and aquaculture pollution. The main purpose of the environmental and economic loss analyses is to support salvage planning for the shipwreck, because we have to consider the oil discharge from the shipwreck during oil removal and salvage. The results of this study show that the best salvage time is early morning in winter, when the northwest wind and maximum flood tide are dominant resulting in the spilt oil going forward into the open sea without coastal pollution and aquaculture pollution.

Initial environmental risk assessment of hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) spill accidents to mitigate its damages.

In this study, a system was established to perform an initial environmental risk assessment of hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) spill accidents. Initial environmental risk assessment was performed using exposure and hazard assessments. An integrated hydrodynamic and chemical fate model was used to predict HNS concentrations at harbors, taking into account local environmental conditions. To consider the worst case HNS spill accident, the spill amount of 10,000 tonnages, was used for this study. The results show that highly soluble HNS are fatal to marine organisms during the neap tide. The results were based on a hypothetical worst case HNS spill accident and, not any specific actual HNS spill accident. Nevertheless, the method and system developed in this study, which includes the physical/chemical properties of 158 priority HNS, can be readily used to perform an initial environmental risk assessment for future HNS spill accidents.

Pollution risk assessment of oil spill accidents in Garorim Bay of Korea.

This study presents a model to assess the oil spill risk in Garorim Bay in Korea, where large-scale oil spill accidents frequently occur. The oil spill risk assessment is carried out by using two factors: 1) The impact probability of the oil spill, and 2) the first impact time of the oil that has been spilt. The risk assessment is conducted for environmentally sensitive areas, such as the coastline and aquaculture farms in the Garorim Bay area. Finally, Garorim Bay is divided into six subareas, and the risks of each subarea are compared with one another to identify the subarea that is most vulnerable to an oil spill accident. These results represent an objective and comprehensive oil spill risk level for a specific region. The prediction of the oil spill spread is based on real-time sea conditions and can be improved by integrating our results, especially when sea conditions are rapidly changing.

Risk assessment and national measure plan for oil and HNS spill accidents near Korea.

Many oil and HNS spill accidents occur in the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula because Korea is one of the biggest trading partners in the world. In this study, we analyzed the oil and HNS spill accidents that occurred between 1994 and 2005 and created risk matrices to assess these accidents. The worst scenarios of future oil and HNS spill accidents were established, and the maximum spill amounts were estimated using historic accident data and a correlation from IPIECA. The maximum spill amounts are estimated to be between 77,000 and 10,000 tons of oil and HNS, respectively. One third of the spill materials should be removed using recovery equipment within three days of the spill event, according to the national measure plan. The capability of recovery equipment to remove spill materials can be estimated, and the equipment should then be prepared to mitigate the harmful effects of future oil and HNS accidents on humans and marine ecosystems.