Title: Finding risky areas for oil spillage after tanker accidents at Istanbul strait

Authors: Ersan Basar, Ercan Kose, Abdulaziz Guneroglu

Addresses: Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Marine Science, Surmene Tr-61600, Trabzon, Turkey. ' Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Marine Science, Surmene Tr-61600, Trabzon, Turkey. ' Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Marine Science, Surmene Tr-61600, Trabzon, Turkey

Abstract: The Istanbul strait, which is a part of Turkish Strait System (TSS), is a narrow and navigationally risky waterway for ships. This risk increases daily due to oil transportation from Central Asia and Russia. In this study, four high risk areas were identified after analysing accident statistics for the strait. Then, a simulation was run for 1,000 tonnes of oil spill at each station and the distribution of oil determined by using GNOME^TM. Effective wind speed and direction were used at each scenario. As a result of these runs, risky areas were identified and necessary actions to minimise the effect of spill were discussed. Anadolu Kavagi, Buyukdere, Cengelkoy and Haydarpasa were identified as the high risk areas. In order to minimise the effect on these areas, having skimmers ready at Haydarpasa port and Buyukdere, and stocking barriers at other risky areas were found to be helpful for speedy action.

Keywords: Istanbul strait; Turkish strait system; oil spills; oil tankers; accidents; risk assessment; oil pollution; simulation; Bosphorus.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2006.010580

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2006 Vol.27 No.4, pp.388 - 400

Published online: 02 Aug 2006 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article