Together with several partners, the Norwegian Coastal Administration will gather knowledge on oil spill response involving low-sulphur fuel oils.
From 2020 to 2022, the Norwegian Coastal Administration will lead the EU-funded IMAROS project, which aims to gather knowledge and experience from several countries to develop recommendations on how to best carry out oil spill response operations involving low-sulphur fuel oils. The project is a collaboration between Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, Belgium, and Malta.
See the video about the IMAROS project further down the page.
Successful oil spill response following shipping incidents will reduce impacts on the marine environment and the socio-economic consequences for affected coastal communities.
Changes in IMO regulations to reduce air emissions from ships have resulted in a “new generation” of fuel oils. These new fuel types can be challenging in the event of accidental spills, and their behavior after release has been little studied. Laboratory and basin testing so far has revealed a significant diversity of fuel oils in terms of physical and chemical properties, as well as toxicity.
A shipping incident involving this new generation of oils may cause serious impacts on the marine and coastal environment, followed by challenges since such oils may be difficult to remove using conventional oil spill response equipment and methods.
The aim of this project is to gather knowledge and experiences from several countries and to identify the most relevant products from the new generation of oils used by ships in Europe. These oils will be analyzed to determine their different properties. Furthermore, the suitability of various response technologies and methods for spills of these new products will be assessed through practical equipment testing.
The overall goal is to develop recommendations for oil spill response involving the new generation of fuel oils. This includes methods for response at sea as well as along shorelines. This will enable participating states in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to invest in the most appropriate equipment and gain knowledge of the best possible response methods for this new generation of oils. An effective response at sea will also reduce the amount of oil reaching shorelines. The results may also contribute to the development of more environmentally friendly marine fuels.
The project is funded by EU. Read more.
The IMAROS project finished in June 2022. See the film and read the reports from the project, and have a look at the presentations from the final conference.
