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) 2015 Dr Trevor Dixon A survey conducted on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Cambridge, March 2016 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) 23 SECTION 4 Enumeration area summary reports: 29 1 North-east England 30 2 Eastern England 31 3 Essex & Kent 31 4 Southern England 32 5 South-west England. 33 6 Bristol Channel & South Wales 35 7 Irish Sea 36 8 Western Scotland 37 9 Orkney & Shetland Islands 38 10 Eastern Scotland 39 11 UKCS (Oil and gas installations and vessels) 40 SECTION 5 Quality assurance plan and acknowledgements 43 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 2016 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1 Annual totals for reported discharges attributed to vessels and offshore oil and gas installations 2000-2015 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 2014 and 2015 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 2015 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 and releases 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 1,749 incident reports and supporting information, 671 accidental discharges from vessels and releases from offshore oil and gas installations were identified in the survey area during 2015. An overall reduction of 10.3% was evident in the total number of incidents reported from all sources over the previous year’s total. A total of 139 vessel-sourced discharges were reported during 2015 which was 7 fewer than the previous year’s total and significantly fewer than the mean annual total of 186 reported discharges between 2000 and 2014. A total of 531 accidental releases were reported by offshore oil and gas installations operating in the open sea during 2015 representing an 11.6% decrease on the previous year’s total. Further analysis of these statistics showed that the total of 337 oil releases from offshore oil and gas installations operating in the open sea during 2015 was 51 more than the mean annual total of 286 releases reported between 2000 and 2014. Estimated volumes of releases showed that 72% were less than 5 litres. The total of 194 non-mineral oil releases by offshore installations during 2015, primarily those involving chemical substances, was 27 fewer than the total recorded during the previous year. The reported incidents from all sources during 2015 comprised 70% mineral oils, 29% chemicals (including oil-based mud) and 1% other substances (including vegetable and animal oils). Approximately 85 % of all accidental discharges and releases were reported in the open sea, 13% were in ports and harbours and 2% were across the remaining marine environmental zones. Survey respondents submitted details of a total of 87 incidents involving accidental discharges from vessels and oil rigs operating in ports and harbours Page 1 of 43 during 2015 which was 14 fewer compared with the mean annual total of 101 discharges between 2000 and 2014. Three beach pollution incidents were reported during 2015 which was 4 fewer than the mean annual total of 7 incidents reported between 2000 and 2014. The most extensive incident occurred during October after varying quantities of solidified rancid palm oil residues were washed ashore along a 5-km stretch of shoreline at Hastings. Clearance operations were completed over a 14-day interval. No reports were received of any beach pollution incidents involving mineral oils during 2015. Estimated volumes of accidental discharges and releases were recorded in 686 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 25 tonnes were recorded in 5 of the 11 survey enumeration areas. In total, 4% of all oil discharges and releases (including ongoing releases) were greater than 455 litres, when this information was recorded, compared with 6% during the previous year. The largest oil incident, with an estimated maximum volume of 25 tonnes, occurred after the general cargo vessel Lysblink Seaways (7,409 gt, built 2000) ran aground near Kilchoan in the western entrance to the Sound of Mull on 18 February. The modal class for chemical incidents was also less than 455 litres but 35 releases, or 17% of the total (including 13 ongoing releases), were of 1 tonne or more. The largest chemical incident involving a release of 45,254.15 kg of Oceanic HW540 v2 was caused by a hydraulics open system SCM failure on the Ninian Central Platform on 18 March. At least 28 confirmed discharges were attributed to vessel casualties comprising 9 fishing vessels, 7 pleasure craft and workboats, 3 barges, 2 general cargo vessels, 2 tugs, a bunker tanker, a car carrier, a dredger, a tall-ship and a research vessel. Reporting organisations submitted details of 2 successful prosecutions brought by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland for marine pollution offences. On 1 July 2015 Shell UK Limited pleaded guilty at the Aberdeen Sheriff Court to an unlicensed release of 13.886 tonnes of diesel oil at the Brent Bravo platform on 11 May 2013 and was fined £6,500. On 24 November 2015 Shell UK Limited was fined £22,500 following an unplanned release of 218 tonnes of crude oil and 403.502 kg Biocide 220 from the Gannet F pipeline bundle between 11 and 19 August 2011. ________________________________________________ Page 2 of 43 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. The boundaries of the UKEEZ are shown in Figure 2. The survey questionnaire and accompanying guidelines are provided in Appendix 2. 1.2.2 The survey questionnaire was distributed to the appropriate representatives of coastal local authorities, port and harbour authorities, national environment agencies and animal welfare groups.