Many of our waste products end up in the sea and then can move through the ocean, endangering marine life through entanglement, ingestion and intoxication. The Sea Change, a project funded from EU H2020, cited the top five sources of marine pollution and the implications they create for marine life.

In 2002, the Greek-owned and Bahamas-operated tanker ‘Prestige’ encountered heavy weather during a routine voyage and eventually sank off the coast of Spain, causing the worst environmental disaster in the country and one of the greatest oil spills in Europe.

Sewol ferry sank on 16 April 2014, in South Korean waters taking the lives of over 300 people, most of whom where kids on a school excursion. Four years later, in August 2018, the official panel investigation on the accident said it could not find exact causes for South Korea’s deadliest maritime casualty since 1970.

The capsizing of Herald of Free Enterprise, only a few minutes after leaving Zeebrugge port on 6 March 1987, killed 193 people. The incident is considered, not only as the deadliest casualty involving a UK-registered ship since 1919, but also as a wake-up call for safety improvements.

The sinking of the Amoco Cadiz in 1978 came to claim again the title of the world’s worst oil spill, putting another dark spot in the environmental record of shipping.

Simultaneous Operations occur when two or more potentially conflicting activities are being executed in the same location at the same time. SQE Marine Consulting advised on a proper SIMOPS risk assessment, which is to be conducted through several dedicated meetings, requiring participation of multidisciplinary attendees by all involved parties. 

The bunkering of ships, which formerly was a relatively low skill and low value activity, has deployed into a highly focused shipboard operation, due to the continuously rising oil price in conjunction with the imperative need for high marine environmental protection.

The Republic of Marshall Islands issued a marine notice, setting out the revised requirements for hot work, including all ships, not just tank ships and combination carriers. Hot Work involves sources of ignition or temperature sufficiently high enough to cause the ignition of a flammable gas mixture.

Imposed restrictions as a result of COVID-19 pandemic has disturbed crew mobility, leaving thousands of seafarers quarantined onboard ships. BIMCO has shared a list of countries where crew change is allowed and a list of countries where it is not allowed as of 20 May 2020. 

Ship to ship transfer operations are seen more and more as vessels’ size grows in comparison with ports’ and terminals’ size. STS constitutes one of the most common but also high-risk operations in shipping. These operations should be carefully planned and executed by familiar and trained crews.