The Potential of Current- and Wind-Driven Transport for Environmental Management of the Baltic Sea

Tarmo Soomere,Emil Stanev,H. E. Markus Meier,Jens Murawski,Andreas Lehmann,Kai Myrberg,Kristofer Döös

doi:10.1007/s13280-013-0486-3

Abstract

The ever increasing impact of the marine industry and transport on vulnerable sea areas puts the marine environment under exceptional pressure and calls for inspired methods for mitigating the impact of the related risks. We describe a method for preventive reduction of remote environmental risks caused by the shipping and maritime industry that are transported by surface currents and wind impact to the coasts. This method is based on characterizing systematically the damaging potential of the offshore areas in terms of potential transport to vulnerable regions of an oil spill or other pollution that has occurred in a particular area. The resulting maps of probabilities of pollution to be transported to the nearshore and the time it takes for the pollution to reach the nearshore are used to design environmentally optimized fairways for the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Proper, and south-western Baltic Sea.

Highlights

IntroductionRisks related to maritime industry are associated with potential accidents (ship collisions, sinking or grounding, leaks from oil platforms, etc.) that may lead to loss of lives or property, or to environmental pollution
Risks related to maritime industry are associated with potential accidents that may lead to loss of lives or property, or to environmental pollution
Large accidents provide substantial risks to the ecosystem even in seemingly remote and safe locations as demonstrated, for example, by the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill (Camilli et al 2010) or Tohoku tsunami (Bagulayan et al 2012). This component of environmental risk is exceptionally important in small seas that host intense ship traffic such as the Baltic Sea

Summary

Introduction

Risks related to maritime industry are associated with potential accidents (ship collisions, sinking or grounding, leaks from oil platforms, etc.) that may lead to loss of lives or property, or to environmental pollution. Large accidents provide substantial risks to the ecosystem even in seemingly remote and safe locations as demonstrated, for example, by the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill (Camilli et al 2010) or Tohoku tsunami (Bagulayan et al 2012). This component of environmental risk is exceptionally important in small seas that host intense ship traffic such as the Baltic Sea. This component of environmental risk is exceptionally important in small seas that host intense ship traffic such as the Baltic Sea At present this sea accounts for up to 15 % of the world’s international ship cargo transportation. The largest threat to this region is oil transportation that has increased by more than a factor of two from year 2000 to 2006 (Knudsen 2010)

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