ACOPS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PROTECTION OF THE SEA ANNUAL SURVEY OF REPORTED DISCHARGES AND RELEASES ATTRIBUTED TO VESSELS AND OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS INSTALLATIONS OPERATING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM’S EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE (UK EEZ) 2014 Dr Trevor Dixon A survey conducted on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Cambridge, March 2015 This report has been produced by the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea under a contract with the Department for Transport. Any views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Department for Transport. © Queen's Printer and Controller of HMSO - 2015 All enquiries relating to the copyright in the work should be addressed to HMSO, The Licensing Division, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich, NR3 1BQ. CONTENTS Page Number Summary 1 SECTION 1 Introduction and survey design 3 SECTION 2 Descriptive statistics and trend assessments 5 SECTION 3 Summary of larger discharges (2 tonnes or more) 22 SECTION 4 Enumeration area summary reports: 28 1 North-east England 29 2 Eastern England 30 3 Essex & Kent 30 4 Southern England 31 5 South-west England. 33 6 Bristol Channel & South Wales 34 7 Irish Sea 35 8 Western Scotland 36 9 Orkney & Shetland Islands 37 10 Eastern Scotland 38 11 UKCS (Oil and gas installations and vessels) 40 SECTION 5 Quality assurance plan and acknowledgements 42 APPENDIX 1 Summary of reported incidents APPENDIX 2 Survey questionnaire and accompanying guidelines _______________________________ Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea, c/o MCSC, Trinity College (Julian Hunt), Cambridge CB2 1TQ March 2015 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1 Annual totals for reported discharges attributed to vessels and offshore oil and gas installations 2000-2014 FIGURE 2 Boundaries of UK Exclusive Economic Zone and individual enumeration areas FIGURE 3 Locations of reported oil discharges attributed to vessels LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1 Total incidents reported by category of pollution and enumeration area for 2013 and 2014 TABLE 2 Total incidents reported and distribution by marine environmental zone and enumeration area TABLE 3 Amount and extent of reported pollution by enumeration area TABLE 4 Identification of source of pollution and reported type by enumeration area TABLE 5 Reported source of pollution by enumeration area TABLE 6 Details of prosecutions brought by the competent authorities in the United Kingdom during 2014 TABLE 7 Total number of incident reports received from each reporting organisation SUMMARY The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) exercises Central Government's statutory responsibilities for taking action when oil or hazardous and noxious substances emanating from any at-sea activity threatens the United Kingdom or its surrounding waters. As part of its commitment to provide cleaner seas around the United Kingdom, the MCA publishes, via ACOPS, an annual survey of reported discharges attributed to vessels and offshore oil and gas installations operating in the United Kingdom’s Exclusive Economic Zone (UKEEZ). The annual survey results complement historical data and records and enable MCA's Counter Pollution and Response (CPR) team to monitor trends in the number of incidents, the amount of oil and chemicals spilt, the geographical distribution of spills, the sources of pollution and the nature of the pollution. Following analysis of 1,793 incident reports and supporting information, 748 accidental discharges from vessels and releases from offshore oil and gas installations were identified in the survey area during 2014. An 11.6% increase was evident in the total number of incidents reported from all sources over the previous year’s total. A total of 146 vessel-sourced discharges were reported during 2014 which was 2 more than the previous year’s total and significantly fewer than the mean annual total of 189 reported discharges between 2000 and 2013. A total of 601 accidental releases were reported by offshore oil and gas installations operating in the open sea during 2014 representing a 14.5% increase on the previous year’s total. Further analysis of these statistics showed that the total of 380 oil releases from offshore oil and gas installations during 2014 was the highest recorded since 2000 and 101 more than the mean annual total of 279 releases reported between 2000 and 2013. Estimated volumes of releases showed that 70% were less than 5 litres. The total of 221 non-mineral oil releases by offshore installations during 2014, primarily those involving chemical substances, was 11 more than the total recorded during the previous year. The reported incidents from all sources during 2013 comprised 68.6% mineral oils, 29.3% chemicals (including oil-based mud) and 2.1% other substances (including vegetable and animal oils). Approximately 88 % of all accidental discharges and releases were reported the open sea, 9% were in ports and harbours and 3% were across the remaining marine environmental zones. Survey respondents submitted details of a total of 70 incidents involving accidental discharges from vessels and oil rigs operating in ports and harbours during 2014 which was 33 fewer compared with the mean annual total of 103 discharges between 2000 and 2013. Page 1 of 42 Nine beach pollution incidents were reported during 2014 which was the highest total recorded since 2003 and 2 more than the mean annual total of 7 incidents reported between 2000 and 2013. The most extensive incident occurred between January and March 2014 after generally small quantities of solidified rancid palm oil residues were washed ashore in south-west and southern England including the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Isle of Wight, Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex. The residues ranged in size and form from small nuggets to boulder-sized chunks up to 1- metre in diameter. Clearance operations were organised by some local authorities and private beach owners and warning notices were erected advising dog owners of the potential hazards to their pets. Estimated volumes of accidental discharges and releases were recorded in 758 incident reports (including ongoing releases), or 94% of the total. The modal class for oil discharges and releases was less than 455 litres but larger estimated volumes of between 456 litres and approximately 30 tonnes were recorded in 9 of the 11 survey enumeration areas. In total, 6% of all oil discharges and releases (including ongoing releases) were greater than 455 litres, when this information was recorded, compared with 8.7% during the previous year. The largest oil incident, with an estimated maximum volume of 30 tonnes, occurred after the French trawler Le Sillon (160.9 gt, built 1987) ran aground and broke up on rocks in rough seas at High Butter Cove near Porthcothan on 2 February. The modal class for chemical incidents was also less than 455 litres but 36 releases, or 16% of the total (including 9 ongoing releases), were of 1 tonne or more. The largest chemical incident involving a release of 38, 896.5 kg Oceanic HW540 v2 was caused by a subsea control module leak on the Strathspey Manifold on 4 June. The leak was stopped following replacement of well components and system modifications. At least 25 confirmed discharges were attributed to vessel casualties including 13 pleasure craft and workboats, 10 fishing vessels, a supply vessel and a tug. Six vessel- casualty spills occurred in nearshore waters, 16 in ports or harbours and the remainder in the open sea. The standby safety vessel OMS Pollux (436 gt, built 1976) collided with a pile supporting a turbine at the Walney Wind Farm located off Barrow-in-Furness on 14 August. The vessel was damaged over the port side fuel tank causing a diesel oil leak, initially at a rate of 10 litres per minute. The vessel remained offshore away from environmentally sensitive areas until temporary repairs had been completed and the leak had been stopped. No reports were received of any prosecutions brought by the competent authorities for marine pollution offences during 2014. _________________________________________________ Page 2 of 42 SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND SURVEY DESIGN 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1.1.1 Since 1965 the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS) has compiled statistics and other information on different types of marine pollution in the waters around the British Isles. The competent authorities and other stakeholder groups have used this information for a wide range of purposes including policy and planning decisions, evaluations of particular programmes, assessments of regulatory compliance levels, development of risk assessment models and to support educational campaigns. Examples of organisations that have consulted the survey data include the Department for Transport, European Commission, International Maritime Organisation, Local Authority Associations, Marine Management Organisation, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government. 1.1.2 The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) exercises Central Government's statutory responsibilities for taking action when oil or other hazardous and noxious substances emanating from any at-sea activity threatens the United Kingdom or its surrounding waters. As part of its commitment to provide cleaner seas around the United Kingdom, the MCA publishes, via ACOPS, an annual survey of reported discharges and releases attributed to vessels and offshore oil and gas installations operating in the United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone (UKEEZ). The survey results complement historical data and records and enable MCA's Counter Pollution and Response (CPR) Team to monitor trends in the number of incidents, the amount of oil and chemicals spilled, the geographical distribution of spills, the source of pollution and the nature of the pollution. 1.2 SURVEY DESIGN 1.2.1 In accordance with the MCA's survey specification a two-page questionnaire was designed to capture information relating to discharges of oil and other hazardous and noxious substances from vessels and unpermitted oil and chemical releases from offshore oil and gas installations. The survey area included the UKEEZ and adjacent areas of jurisdiction including ports, harbours and tidal stretches of rivers and estuaries.