OIL POLLUTION ON THE SEAS: CAUSES, CONTROL AND CLEAN-UP

In terms of tonnage, over half the world's seaborne trade consists of crude oil and oil products, much of it moved over considerably greater distances than other types of cargo. Despite the fact that tanker tonnage (more than 170 million tons deadweight in February 1972) accounts for less than half the world's total fleet, the oil industry's share of total trade in terms of ton/miles currently exceeds 60 percent. Two contributing factors are the continued closure of the Suez Canal and the considerable less time spent in port by oil tankers compared with other ships. The winning, transportation, requirements, distribution and use of such vast quantities of oil and oil products inevitably means risk of pollution from a variety of sources, the seas and oceans of the world being particularly vulnerable. This paper concludes with sources of such pollution, ways by which it may be minimized and means of dealing with pollution once it has occurred.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 45 Conference Papers presented at IMAS 73, London, 4-8 June 1973, organized by the Institute of Marine Engineers. This paper is available only in a set of 7 papers in Subject Group 4: "Marine Pollution: Sewage, Oil, and Noise" at $10.00.
• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Marine Engineers

  Memorial Building, 76 Mark Lane
  London EC3R 7JN,   England 
• Authors:
  • Benyon, L R
• Publication Date: 1973

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air pollution sources; Identification systems; Oil spill cleanup; Oil spills; Pollution control
• Old TRIS Terms: Pollution abatement measures
• Subject Areas: Environment; Marine Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00048464
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Institute of Marine Engineers
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 14 1973 12:00AM