19-08-2010 par Elodie MellenecNo holiday for oil polluters in the Mediterranean Sea

On Saturday the 14^th of August, a sailor alerted the Mediterranean Regional Surveillance and Rescue Center about an oil spill, 15 kilometers long and 150 meters wide, appearing off the coast of Porquerolles Island in the French Var region.  According to Bernard Celier, member of the Mediterranean maritime authorities, this is a new orphan pollution, showing no oily substance nor pellets.       

The oil pollution was quickly localized thanks to a customs aircraft.  Fortunately, the vessel “AbeilleFlandres” was only a few minutes away from the pollution area and was able to treat this area immediately.  The Mediterranean maritime authority also deployed on the spot a specialist support, assistance and cleanup operation (named JASON), as well as arranging for the customs aircraft to try to determine the extent of the oil slick.

For the moment, we still ignore the origin of pollutions like these: was it an accident? Or was it a boat preferring to empty its oil tanks into the sea for free, rather than at a port as they are required?  We will probably never know…

The media always focus on accidents and oil spills that have catastrophic consequences on the marine environment, and forget to emphasise orphan pollutions that nevertheless pollute our oceans everyday.  In 2009 in the Mediterranean for example, the maritime authorities named more than 190 orphan pollutions including 100 hydrocarbon spills. Every year, 150.000 tons of oil pollution are thrown back in the Mediterranean Sea, representing ten “Erikas” and two “Prestiges”.

Surfrider Foundation Europe tries to fight against these “hooligans of the sea” by bringing civil actions for all oil releases detected in French Maritime areas.  We also demand an improvement of the methods with which we can detect marine pollution and the parties responsible.  This problem was at the heart of a workshop that we organized during the European Maritime Days. We also emphasize these commitments through our work with “le Grenelle de la Mer” (a dialogue between maritime bodies organised by the French Government).

These commitments have been adopted and we now hope that new technologies like the use of satellites and night observation will be implemented, so that the number of orphan pollutions is reduced and no pollution is left unpunished.