Oil spills in the Adriatic Sea

Abstract

Despite the northwest-southeast orientation of the Adriatic Sea, commercially it is virtually a north–south sea, as it penetrates deep into the European continent, nearly to the foot of the Alps. Large vessel traffic is dense, and accordingly there is a great deal of operational pollution along with the constant threat of accidents and incidents. Researchers have developed the means to detect much of the pollution in the Adriatic, to estimate its extent, and even the means, through satellite images and the process of backtracking, to identify polluters. These techniques promise that the increasing volume of traffic in the Adriatic may coincide with a reduction of pollution from commercial vessels. However, many other sources of oil pollution are of concern, including offshore industry, fishing, natural seeps, extraction of natural gases and oil from beneath the seabed and the corroding wrecks from as long as 70 years ago. There is also concern that legislation is not strict enough in the cases of platforms and chemical tankers. Further issues and complications derive from the nature of the sea, which is shallow and is fed by a high number of streams and rivers. The Adriatic, as is actually the case for the entire Mediterranean, is classified as a Special Area (according to MARPOL Annex I), which limits the amount of legal discharging of oily wastes, for instance. In addition, since few years the possibility to extend to the Adriatic the status of Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) is under discussion. Yet the likelihood that traffic will increase and the causes of pollution detailed here will persist suggests that the need for continued scientific intervention and further legislation will also increase if the Adriatic is to maintain a semblance of a healthy environment.