Reporting Ship Sourced Pollution
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Educational resources and information
Prevention of Pollution from Ships
National Maritime Emergency Response Arrangements
AMSAs Role in Maritime Environmental Issues
Register of Local Fuel Oil Suppliers
Environmental and Scientific Issues
Oil Spill Trajectory Modelling
The Oil Spill Trajectory Model (OSTM) is used by AMSA as a decision support tool to predict the behaviour of various oils in the water column based on wind and tidal data. It is a important tool used during an oil spill response as well as an integral part of contingency planning, backtracking mystery spills and has been used as evidence in court for prosecutions.
In June 2006 training was provided to AMSA staff in the operation of the new HydroMap hydrodynamic modeling software as well as a refresher in the OilMap spill trajectory model.
On-going developments by AMSA in improving the spill model have included:
- On-going upgrading of digital bathymetry datasets
- High resolution current models for Port of Dampier and Torres Strait regions
- Ability to animate any of the eight tidal constituents and provide users with movie files of predicted currents
- Incorporation of last global tidal model provided by Oregon Stae University
- Updating of the web based on-line request form to include a new range of outputs to National Plan users.
The development of a ‘Google Earth’ compatible option for the OSTM output will soon be released that will enable the OSTM output to be visualized in the free software viewer.
Oil Spill Response Atlas
The Oil Spill Response Atlas (OSRA) provides vital environmental, biological and logistical information to marine spill responders in a useful and effective format to enable a fast and efficient response to oil and chemical spills in the marine environment. Funding for the 2005-2006 financial year approved to all States and NT for OSRA tasks was $82,000.
The Environment Working Group identified to the NPOG meeting in November 2004 that it was timely to migrate OSRA and the OSRA Toolset to the ArcGIS platform. To achieve this NPOG allocate $50,000 towards the migration. The project was postponed to accommodate other National Plan priorities. During 2005-2006, AMSA has developed a project plan to undertake the work in the 2006-2007 financial year.
Research, Development and Technology Program
Oil and Dispersed Oil Impacts on Temperate Seagrasses
Although Australian-approved Oil Spill Dispersants rate predominantly as “slightly toxic” to “practically non-toxic” by the International Maritime Organization GESAMP classification system, there is limited knowledge on the specific effects on seagrasses exposed to dispersants. The use of dispersants may also increase the exposure of submerged seagrasses to oil as dispersed oil enters the water column.
To address the knowledge gap on the impact on seagrasses exposed to oil spills, AMSA entered into a funding agreement on behalf of the National Plan with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). The National Plan is also providing in-kind support and technical advice to the research team.
UTS researchers are using a combination of laboratory and field experiments to compare the toxicity of several oils and dispersant/oil mixtures on seagrasses, and to provide advice on the best approach to the use of dispersants on oil spills in the vicinity of seagrasses. An additional aim is the development of a method using microalgae to provide a rapid bioassay of expected impacts on seagrass from oils and oil/dispersant mixtures.
UTS has completed proof-of-concept work using Slickgone NS dispersant and Gippsland Crude oil to study effects on a common seagrass species (Zostera capricorni) in temperate waters in New South Wales. The report on this work was circulated to National Plan Stakeholders in late 2005.
Evaluation of magnetic versus detergent-based cleansing of oiled wildlife in the field - animal welfare, logistics, waste and cost considerations.
Following recommendations of the 2nd National Plan Oiled Wildlife Workshop (February 2004) and the 14th Environmental & Scientific Coordinators Workshop (May 2005), a new RD&T project proposal was developed and approved in 2005-2006 to evaluate the use of magnets versus detergent-based cleansing of oiled wildlife in the field. The work will commence in July 2006.
This project is consistent with the currently identified research areas in the National Plan RD&T Strategy, specifically the category of Innovative Marine Pollution Technology and sub-category of research and development of methods to restore and rehabilitate natural resources (including wildlife) damaged by oil and chemical pollution.
The outcome of this project will be a report evaluating magnetic cleansing compared to conventional detergent-based methods, including:
- any benefits to oiled wildlife, particularly with regard to reduced handling time and therefore stress;
- cost of materials and deployment;
- logistics;
- waste disposal;
- any technological developments required; and
- future direction of research into this technique.
Updated: July 2007