Oil spill damage: a collision scenario and financial liability estimations for the Northern Sea Route area

Abstract

The global demand in energy resources is moving the petroleum industry to the Arctic with its huge resource potential. The lack of infrastructure onshore increases the role of the Arctic marine shipping and the importance of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Shipping within NSR waters is associated with challenges and risks, including environmental ones, and may lead to high losses caused by an accidental oil spill. The present paper provides a description and the results from the application of a simulation model for selected tanker collision scenarios with an evaluation of possible oil spill sizes as result of discharge time, penetration depth, energy and force applied. NSR navigation data from 2013, the year with the record number of transits through NSR, were studied. These were used to generate probable oil spill scenarios caused by tanker collision, and financial liabilities for environmental damage were calculated using existing international and Russian methods.