030 - International cooperation on marine pollution from sunken vessels

030 - International cooperation on marine pollution from sunken vessels

Latest version in this language: Version for electronic vote | Published on: 01 Sep 2020

RECOGNISING that the pollution of our oceans is a global problem, which threatens marine species and their ecosystems;

NOTING that there are more than 8,500 potentially polluting sunken vessels around the world, with more than 22 billion gallons of fuel on board, most of which date from World War II, and that because of years of erosion the issue of fuel leakage is no longer ‘if’ but instead ‘when’ it will happen;

FURTHER RECOGNISING that pollution from wrecks is a lesser-known but important issue that threatens the stability and livelihood of our oceans and marine ecosystems;

UNSETTLED about the immediate environmental threat that, as sunken vessels continue to deteriorate, fuel and other dangerous chemicals will begin and continue to spill into our oceans;

CONCERNED that a majority of the efforts for removing fuel have been reactive once a leak is reported, whereas the oceans and the environment deserve and require a proactive approach to this threat; and

ACKNOWLEDGING that several countries have made efforts to document and maintain databases to track these wrecks, including Estonia, Finland and Sweden, with the wreck registers and risk assessment work done in the Sunken Wreck Environmental Risk Assessment (SWERA) project;

The IUCN World Conservation Congress, at its session in Marseille, France:

1. ENCOURAGES the Director General to explore a collaboration with Members with a view to producing a toolkit to evaluate the threat of oil pollution from shipwrecks and to identify possible solutions; and

2. CALLS ON State and Government Agency Members to continue to develop and share innovative tools and best practices for pollutant removal from sunken ships having oil or packaged dangerous goods on board.

The pollution of our oceans is a global problem that has arisen as a consequence of the industrialization of the world and the intensified shipment of crude oil and the products of its refinement. Pollution from sunken ships is a lesser-known but important issue that threatens the stability of our oceans and marine ecosystems.

Most potentially polluting sunken vessels were sunk at or around the time of World War II and continue to deteriorate. Among these wrecks are vessels that still contain fuel or other dangerous substances in their tanks or holds. It is estimated that there could be up to 22 billion gallons of fuel and more than 8,500 at-risk vessels under the world’s oceans. Most wrecks that have lain on the seabed for more than 60 years succumb to corrosion, so there is a considerable likelihood of petroleum products seeping out of many of them. The issue of fuel leakage is no longer “if” but instead “when” it will happen.

Recent response efforts in the United States of America and elsewhere have led to interest from both government and industry to systematically identify, investigate, and potentially offload the oil remaining onboard wrecks before they begin to leak. Databases have been developed by several countries to prioritize wrecks based on the amount of oil on-board and the probability of pollution spillage.

In 2004, the U.S Navy successfully removed 2.8million gallons of oil from USS Mississinewa, which sunk during WWII in 1944. However, despite the success of the oil removal it is important to highlight that only after leakage was reported in 2001 action was taken. The leak and potential additional oil leaks from the USS Mississinewa were life threatening to the environment and habitants of Ulithi Atoll ( located in the Yap state of the Federated States of Micronesia).

One of the issues raised during the Oil removal project in 2004 was the fact that the majority of these sunken vessels are War Graves. So, special considerations are required. However, because of the imminent threat to the environment and life outweighs any possible delays such special considerations may require. Because of the advanced deterioration of these sunken vessels the special considerations ought to be overlooked in order to focus on saving the living.

As a recent example of the global cooperation needed to combat this issue, in 2014, Finland, Estonia, and Sweden began to cooperate through their Sunken Wreck Environmental Risk Assessment (SWERA) project. The main objectives of this program were to conduct a wreck survey, create wreck models, risk assessment of different salvage operation alternatives, and develop innovative technological solutions for oil removal operations.

The oil, chemicals and unexploded ordnances still on board these vessels pose a grave and imminent danger to the people, marine and coastal environments, fisheries, and species of our oceans. More should be done, on a cooperative, global level, to improve guidelines and strategies for responding to pollution from wrecks; no one country can solve this problem alone.
  • Center for Environmental Legal Studies [United States of America]
  • Center for Large Landscape Conservation [United States of America]
  • Environmental Law Program at the William S. Richardson School of Law [United States of America]
  • Hawai'i Conservation Alliance Foundation [United States of America]
  • International Council of Environmental Law [Spain]
  • SYLVIA EARLE ALLIANCE (DBA MISSION BLUE) [United States of America]

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