Estimating potential oil spill trajectories and coastal impacts from near-shore storage facilities: A case study of FSO Nabarima and the Gulf of Paria

Abstract

The FSO Nabarima is a floating storage facility and offloading vessel in the Gulf of Paria, between Venezuela and the island of Trinidad. During the latter half of 2020, the Nabarima was disabled, holding approximately 1.3 million barrels (55 million gallons) of crude oil onboard. In October 2020, the vessel was tilting and potentially at risk of spilling its payload into open water. Although all of the oil on the Nabarima was successfully offloaded by April 2021, the threat of large crude oil releases is ubiquitous and persistent in many coastal regions, threatening local ecosystems and livelihoods in coastal communities. This paper aims to highlight a framework for evaluating the potential spatial vulnerability of coastlines should oil be released from near-shore storage facilities. We use the Nabarima as a broadly representative case study and simulate a range of potential spills through space and time to highlight coastal vulnerabilities in the region. The results suggest strong spatiotemporal variability in spill behavior and impact(s) throughout the Gulf of Paria. In addition, we detail potential spill cleanup and mitigation strategies and discuss the challenges of coordinating cross-national responses to these types of spill scenarios.