Responding to Spills of Marine Distillate Fuels

Abstract

: The current spill response capability in Finland is built to respond to oil spills caused by heavy fuel oils and the most transported oil cargoes. However, the implementation of the Sulphur Directive in 2015 changed the fuel profiles of the ships: prior to the new regulation ships operating in the Baltic Sea mainly used heavy fuel oil (HFO), whereas now ships use marine gas oil (MGO DMA) or marine diesel (MDO DMB) known as marine distillate fuels. This paper reviews the effectiveness of the current recovery techniques in responding to spills of marine distillate fuels based on the oil recovery field tests. The results indicate that conventional recovery techniques are only partially applicable to marine distillate fuels, which calls for a reassessment of the marine oil spill response capability and further research. The use and availability of low ‐ carbon marine fuels will continue to increase as emission regulations become more stringent. This will require a continuous assessment of the oil recovery capabilities and the adaptation of spill response preparedness accordingly.