Coast Guard Headquarters Produces Emergency Response Guide for Marine Pollution Incidents... 259 Marine Pollution Cases in 3 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The Korea Coast Guard has produced emergency response guidance materials to prevent oil spill accidents that may occur during vessel accidents such as collisions, groundings, and sinkings at sea, and has launched a campaign to promote them to maritime workers.

According to the Coast Guard on the 22nd, there have been 259 cases over the past three years where vessel accidents at sea escalated into marine pollution such as oil spills.

In particular, in December 2007, near Mallipo, Taean, a collision occurred between the oil tanker Hebei Spirit, which was anchored, and another vessel, resulting in the spill of 12,547 tons of crude oil, causing widespread marine and coastal oil contamination.

In the early stages of the accident, the oil tanker failed to take appropriate measures to prevent the oil spill, which led to the expansion of oil pollution damage. As a result, the captain and navigator were legally detained for their responsibility.

When marine accidents cause the release of pollutants such as vessel fuel into the sea, serious social and economic damages occur, including destruction of fishing grounds and aquaculture farms, environmental pollution, and suspension of port operations. Therefore, rapid initial response measures to marine pollution are extremely important when vessel accidents occur.

Accordingly, the Coast Guard has prepared emergency response promotional materials for marine pollution accidents in preparation for the winter season, when vessel accidents are more likely to occur.

The main contents include measures that can be performed independently on board in case of an accident, such as ▲ shutting off pipelines that may cause oil spills ▲ operating methods to reduce oil leakage ▲ methods to transfer oil stored on the vessel to other safe spaces in case of an accident.

This material will be distributed to maritime workers through shipping companies and can be downloaded for free from the Korea Coast Guard website (www.kcg.go.kr).

A Coast Guard official stated, "Vessel accidents often lead to secondary accidents, and especially in cases of marine pollution, the social and economic damages are significant, so rapid prevention is paramount. This guidance material uses illustrations and accident cases to help seafarers easily understand and raise awareness of accidents, which will aid in accident prevention."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.