Modelling and simulation of oil spills in coastal waters

Abstract

Over the years many navigation incidents took place in coastal areas or in ports. As a result of these incidents (collision between vessels, groundings, flooding, etc.) many wrecks remained. Due to the inability of authorities to manage these situations, or the lack of interest for the repercussions that may occur in such an incident, many problems may arise in medium and long term. The impact on the environment and local economy may prove to be important if no pollution measures are taken in order to prevent ecological disasters. In this paper the case of a sunken vessel in the Romanian Black Sea coastal area, in terms of management of a possible leakage of hydrocarbons, is analysed. The method used in the paper allows the modelling and simulation of oil products spreading, through specialized software solutions, thus providing the authorities with a starting point in managing the response to the emergency situation.