that can be dangerous to the health or the environment.
Further, a hot-spot analysis has been made that investigates the last years’ accidents that have taken place in the Kattegat. The positions of the accidents have been marked in a nautical chart. This information has been obtained from Swedish and Danish authorities.4
A sensitivity analysis has been made in order to find how the environment at sea and along the coastline in the county of Halland could be affected in case of a discharge.
This has been done to show what could be expected if there is an accident with a possible discharge of petroleum products.
Information has been obtained from authorities within the maritime area, The Swedish Maritime Administration and The Swedish Coastguard. The main part of the information has been found on the Internet.
Information from the archives of the Country Administration in Halland has also been used.
Result
One of the main problems that this work shows is the lack of information of what has taken place at sea concerning transports of dangerous goods. The sea territory is to be regarded as ”free”. This means that as long as a ship’s purpose only is to pass through a country’s territorial water, without making a port of call, it has not got any obligations to inform what kind of goods it has got on board. This means that there are no ways for a country to control and inspect what kind of goods or ships pass through its waters. The only exception is if there are any suspicions of an oil spill. Even then, it is difficult to secure evidence.
This is one reason for the lack of information and there is a great need to update it. Neither the Swedish maritime authorities nor the Danish ones have any useful information on this. The information on types and quantities of dangerous goods, which pass through the Kattegat, and which
4The Swedish Maritime Administration and The Danish Maritime Authority
this study consists of, is two reports from 19885 and 19906, and they do not give all the answers. However, they give a clear indication what about transportation at sea.
The quantities of petroleum products will increase7 and this implies more traffic with oil transports through the Kattegat. This could also imply that there are more risks of accidents in the Kattegat because there are no known suggestions to increase the traffic safety in order to prevent accidents.
There have not yet been any serious accidents with major discharges, dangerous to the environment in the Kattegat, but it is necessary to look at the problems now, before something happens. This study shows that there are indications that some areas are more vulnerable. The biggest oil vessel that goes through the Kattegat carries up to 100,000 (metric) tons of oil. In case of a discharge, this would cause enormous problems for the environment in and around the Kattegat.
The environment around the Kattegat is very sensitive if there is a discharge. There are breeding places, which are very important, for several species of fish.8 Along the coastline there are a lot of areas, which are vulnerable if there is a discharge of petroleum products. Almost all the areas along the coastline are considered an area worth preservation for different reasons.
Several areas are also classified as Natura 2000 areas, according to the EU’s Birds Directive9 and Habitats Directive.10 These are based on the EU’s nature preservation policy.
In the southern part of the coastline there are a lot of sandy beaches where it is relatively easy to collect oil spills. The problem in this area is that it has a low level
5 HELCOM: Proceedings No. 34
6HELCOM: Proceedings No. 51
7Jorma Rytkönen et al: Statistical Analyses of the Baltic Maritime Traffic
8Länsstyrelsen Halland: Områden av riksintresse för naturvård i Hallands län;
2000-02-07
9EU’s Birds Directive (79/409/EEC)
10EU’s Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC)
Risk and vulerability Analysis of the Commercial Shipping in the Kattegat
of oxygen. This means that it takes a long time to decompose an oil spill.11
The northern part of the coastline has more rocky formations.13 There are also bays and areas where a major oil spill could be very
difficult to decontaminate.
Decontamination could also be more harmful to nature compared to leaving the oil to decompose. The latter could take a very long time and the effects on the environment and animals could be very grave.
This study also covers the substances that are not only harmful to nature, but also to human health. One of the substances transported at sea is ammonia, a very toxic gas that is extremely dangerous to human health. The average transport of ammonia is 5,000 (metric) tons. During optimal weather conditions the gas can travel a long distance with a high level of concentration.12 In a narrow channel, e.g. the sound of Öresund, where there are cities with a high population that could be affected, this could be very serious.
For the county of Halland this would normally not be a major threat, but as the cargo vessels can navigate very close to the baseline, this could be a problem in case of a discharge. It is certainly a problem if a ship, transporting ammonia, starts drifting towards the coast. There are no ways for the authorities to know, what kind of cargo is being transported, if it is not bound for a Swedish port. There are no ways for the authorities to control a ship with dangerous goods.
Discussion
The report indicates that there are a lot of problems that need to be solved in order to control the sea transports. It is important to have a more direct control of the ship movements in the Kattegat and especially the positions. The sea cannot be regarded as
11, 13
IVL rapport: Miljöeffekter – utveckling av kriterier och metoder för bedömning av oljesanering på svenska stränder
12Försvarets forskningsanstalt: Vådautsläpp av brandfarliga och giftiga gaser och vätskor – Metoder för bedömning av risker
“free” anymore. Ships need to have more obligations than today in order to increase security and avoid the serious accidents with discharges of goods, dangerous both to human health and to the environment.
One way to obtain more control is a type of mandatory report system when a ship is entering the Kattegat on its way to the Baltic Sea. The ship should be obliged to give information of what kind of cargo it has got onboard, which destination and which route it is intended to follow. The Danish authorities have a system like this today. Unfortunately, it cannot be mandatory today, due to the regulations of IMO.
The Danish system can be a help to ensure that dangerous goods transports get assistance, e.g. extended area to navigate.
The authorities can pay special attention to these cargo vessels to avoid dangerous situations. A mandatory report system also gives statistical information on what types and quantities of dangerous goods are actually transported to the Baltic Sea.
An implementation of a mandatory system like this could be a problem from the commerce and business point of view.
However, the Baltic Sea is now classified as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA), which should justify a mandatory report system for the future. This is a something for the Swedish and Danish authorities to analyze.
It should also be possible for the authorities to make flying inspections on the cargo vessels in order to ensure that the condition of the ships is safe and secure. This is probably a little controversial since it could be misused in some cases.
It is also important to make extended analysis of the routes in the Kattegat and work more preventive to ensure that a serious accident could not take place.
Today, society is working more and more with risk- and vulnerability analysis and this should also concern sea transports. Changes are necessary even for the whole shipping trade, before a serious accident occurs in the Kattegat.
References
Kustbevakningens räddningstjänstplan (Swedish Coast Guard).
Miljöräddningstjänst till sjöss,
http://www.kustbevakningen.se/ra/ratjanst /raplan/start.htm, Kustbevakningen 2000 Statistical Analyses of the Baltic Maritime Traffic ; Jorma Rytkönen et al ; 2002;
Research Report No VAL34-012344 30.09.02
Study of the Risk for Accidents and the Related Environmental Hazards from the Transportation of Chemicals by Tankers in the Baltic Sea Area Baltic Sea
Environmental Proceedings No. 34 ; Baltic Marine Environment Protection
Commission - Helsinki Commission 1990;
1SSN 0357-2994
Study of the Transportation of Packaged Dangerous Goods by Sea in the Baltic Sea Area and Related Environmental Hazards, Bait. Sea Environ. Proc. No. 51; HELCOM, 1993; ISSN 0357-2994
Miljöeffekter – utveckling av kriterier och metoder för bedömning av oljesanering på svenska stränder; IVL rapport, Svenska Miljöinstitutet AB; 2004-04-07,
Räddningsverket
Länsstyrelsen Halland: Områden av riksintresse för naturvård i Hallands län ; 2000-02-07
Vådautsläpp av brandfarliga och giftiga gaser och vätskor – Metoder för bedömning av risker, Försvarets forskningsanstalt, 3:e reviderade upplagan november 1998, ISSN 1104-9154
Vulnerability analysis - complex system Electrical distribution network