Oil Pollution and Maritime Accidents: A Case of the Mediterranean Region

This study aims for the assessing the incidence of oil pollution and maritime accidents in the Mediterranean Region. The assessment is also focused on some of the case studies of the marine accidents that caused from oil tankers and its impact on the sea and marine wildlife. The causes of the marine accidents are caused through collision, grounding, fire and explosion, sinking, cargo transfer failure according to the report of Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre.

Running head: DISSERTATION
Dissertation
Research topic: Oil Pollution and Maritime Accidents: A Case of the Mediterranean Region
Name of the student
Name of the University

1DISSERTATION
Acknowledgement
Firstly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the principal Mr./Mrs./Ms.
__________________________________ of _______________________________ University
for the research “Oil Pollution and Maritime Accidents: A Case of the Mediterranean Region”.
I would also grateful to him for providing me necessary facilities for accomplishing the research.
I place on record, my sincere thank you my mentor and guide Mr./Mrs./Ms.
____________________________________ for the continuous encouragement and direction for
opting best and suitable methods to conduct this research study and complete the same. The
expertise, guidance and encouragement that he shared with me help a lot to develop my
understanding in the research topic.
The support I got from my parents and classmates is also appreciable and I admit that without
this I will not be able to complete the research within time. I also got direct help from my seniors
and class mates and receive unlimited encouragement and attention from rest of the friends.
Thank You All…!!!

2DISSERTATION
Abstract
This study aims for the assessing the incidence of oil pollution and maritime accidents in the
Mediterranean Region. The assessment is also focused on some of the case studies of the marine
accidents that caused from oil tankers and its impact on the sea and marine wildlife. The causes
of the marine accidents are caused through collision, grounding, fire and explosion, sinking,
cargo transfer failure according to the report of Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response
Centre. Diminished water quality, loss of resources, loss of human life, higher level of acidity
and effect on Food Chain are the common damages occurred due to marine pollution. There are
number of legislations for the safety of the marine pollution- SOLAS 74 for safety of life at sea,
OILPOL 54 Treaty for addressing the oil pollution at sea, MARPOL 73/78 for marine pollution
from ships, Civil Liability Convention (CLC) for addressing Oil Pollution Damage and The
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In response to the enhancement of the marine environment, suggestion for increasing the
carefulness on the chemical compositions, enhancement of regular inspection, preparing strict
governing rules, ocean cleanups and training to the marine workers should be implement through
the literature review. Secondary resources have been addressed in this research study. It is also
found that the considered regulations have many drawbacks like OILPOL is lacking sufficient
enforcement controls for ports and coastal states, MARPOL 73/78 treaty emphasized more on
the effective compliance by ship owners rather than of using on discharge standards, CLC 69
protocol only focused to the oil combined tankers for oil spills and not the bulk oil carriers and
lastly, the UNCLOS convention is expensive in nature due to its international co-operation and
standards for shipping resulting in getting less preferences from the ship owners. The
recommendation for improving the UNCLOS Convention is the inclusion of the criteria for

3DISSERTATION
providing mandatory training and criteria to rate the oil trading companies. In terms of OILPOL
Convention recommendation including the criteria to present the documentation of the ships and
ability of the employee might reduce the marine pollution is suggested. CLC convention can be
improved by including detailed provision of the rulebook that mention the details of the factors
that will be considered under the insurance policy of CLC. Lastly, the convention of the
MARPOL can be enhanced through implementing new technology in lesser cost and initiating
proactive communication from governing bodies to explain each guideline of the convention.
Keywords
Oil Spill, Marine accident, UNCLOS Convention, OILPOL Convention, CLC Convention and
MARPOL Convention, Mediterranean Region

4DISSERTATION
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction........................................................................................................................10
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................10
1.1 Background of the study............................................................................................................10
1.2 Rationale of the research...........................................................................................................13
1.3 Aim of the research....................................................................................................................14
1.4 Objective of the research...........................................................................................................14
1.5 Question of the research............................................................................................................14
1.6 Structure of the research............................................................................................................15
Chapter 2: Literature Review...............................................................................................................16
2.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................16
2.1 Common causes of maritime accidents.....................................................................................17
2.1.1 Offshore Oil Rig Mishaps...................................................................................................17
2.1.2 Fire and Explosions............................................................................................................18
2.1.3 Sinking................................................................................................................................18
2.1.4 Grounding...........................................................................................................................18
2.1.5 Collision..............................................................................................................................19
2.2 Impact of marine calamities.......................................................................................................20
2.2.1 Diminished water quality....................................................................................................20

5DISSERTATION
2.2.2 Loss of resources................................................................................................................20
2.2.3 Loss of human life..............................................................................................................20
2.2.4 Higher level of acidity........................................................................................................21
2.2.5 Effect on Food Chain..........................................................................................................21
2.3 Factors that enhances marine environment................................................................................21
2.3.1 Carefulness on the chemical compositions.........................................................................21
2.3.2 Regular inspection..............................................................................................................22
2.3.3 Strict governing rules..........................................................................................................22
2.3.4 Ocean cleanups...................................................................................................................23
2.3.5 Training to the marine workers...........................................................................................23
2.4 Types of marine calamities........................................................................................................23
2.4.1 Maritime Accidents............................................................................................................23
2.4.2 Environmental Pollution.....................................................................................................25
2.4.3 Oil Spills.............................................................................................................................27
2.5 Existing international maritime laws and regulations and its benefits......................................28
2.5.1 SOLAS 74 for Safety of Life at Sea...................................................................................28
2.5.2 OILPOL 54 Treaty for addressing the oil pollution at sea.................................................30
2.5.3 MARPOL 73/78 for marine pollution from ships..............................................................31
2.5.4 Civil Liability Convention (CLC) for addressing Oil Pollution Damage...........................33
2.5.5 The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).................................34

6DISSERTATION
2.6 Gaps in international maritime laws and regulations................................................................35
Chapter 3: Research Methodology......................................................................................................37
3.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................37
3.1 Research Philosophy..................................................................................................................37
3.1.1 Justification for selected research philosophy....................................................................38
3.2 Research Approach....................................................................................................................38
3.2.1 Justification for chosen research approach.........................................................................38
3.3 Research purpose.......................................................................................................................39
3.3.1 Justification for selected research purpose.........................................................................39
3.4 Data collection process..............................................................................................................39
3.5 Data Analysis techniques...........................................................................................................40
3.6 Sampling Technique..................................................................................................................41
3.7 Ethical consideration.................................................................................................................41
3.8 Research limitation....................................................................................................................41
3.9 Research Timeframe..................................................................................................................42
Chapter 4: Data collection and Analysis.............................................................................................43
4.1 Research Findings......................................................................................................................43
4.2 Case studies of maritime accidents during the period 1977-2013 took place in Mediterranean
...................................................................................................................................................44
4.2.1 Irenes Serenade oil spill 1980.............................................................................................45

7DISSERTATION
4.2.2 Lebanon crisis oil spill in 2006...........................................................................................45
4.2.3 Satellite monitoring of the oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea............................................46
4.3 Major findings of the oil spill occurred at the Mediterranean Sea............................................50
4.4 Main causes of oil pollution as well as the consequences of maritime accidents in
Mediterranean Region...............................................................................................................52
4.4.1 Gas Discovery.....................................................................................................................54
4.5 Examining connection of the Mediterranean Region and international maritime trade............56
4.6 Social responsibility of the company in environment and analyzing existing legislative
framework..................................................................................................................................59
4.6.1 The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).................................59
4.6.2 The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil (OILPOL)
...............................................................................................................................................60
4.6.3 Civil Liability Convention (CLC)..........................................................................................62
4.6.4 The International convention for the prevention of pollution from ships (MARPOL) 73/78
...............................................................................................................................................63
4.7 Analysis.....................................................................................................................................64
4.7.1 Issues and proposed analysis to improve the current legislative framework......................64
4.7.1 Recommendation on UNCLOS Convention......................................................................64
4.7.2 Recommendation on OILPOL Convention........................................................................64
4.7.3 Recommendation on CLC Convention...............................................................................65
4.7.4 Recommendation on MARPOL Convention......................................................................66

8DISSERTATION
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation.................................................................................68
5.1 Conclusion................................................................................................................................68
5.3 Recommendations....................................................................................................................70
5.3 Future Scope of the study:......................................................................................................71
Reference List......................................................................................................................................72

9DISSERTATION
Table of Images
Image 1: Accidental oil tanker spills in European seas.......................................................................11
Image 3: Detection of the oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea for the year 2001..................................46
Image 4: Normalized density by oil spill for the year 2001................................................................47
Image 5: Statistical Analysis of the length, width and area of the Oil Spills occurred in
Mediterranean Sea.........................................................................................................................47
Image 6: Analysis of satellite images for the time 1999-2004 in Mediterranean Sea.........................48
Image 7: Major tanker spill in the Mediterranean Sea since 1970......................................................49
Image 8: Quantity of oil spilled accidents excluding the major accidents from 1977- 2010..............50
Image 9: Countries where accidents involves with an oil spill over 100 tonnes from 1977-20010...51
Image 10: Accident type distribution in maritime...............................................................................52
Image 11: Different categories of vessels involved in the marine accidents from 1977 to 2010........53
Image 12: Components of the Mediterranean Maritime and Terrestrial Traffic.................................56
Image 13: Trend of international trade, global GDP and transport good through containerization....57
Image 14: Traffic in the Suez Canal from 2008- 2014........................................................................58

10DISSERTATION
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Introduction
Ugurlu et al. (2015) stated that there are several types of marine accident that can occur
and these are offshore oil rig mishaps, cruise vessel mishaps, accidents on tugboats, commercial
fishing mishaps, crane mishaps, accidents on crude oil tankers and cargo ships, grounding of
ships, accidents in shipyards, accidents on barges, accidents on diving support vessels and
cargo hauling accidents. Faghih-Roohi, Xie and Ng (2014) also portrays that the main reason
responsible for the marine accidents are the equipment failures due to lack of constant
maintenance, necessary equipment auditing, breakdowns in operating procedures and lack of
proper communication. Akyuz (2017) highlighted that there are some adverse impact of these
incident on the marine environment especially when accidents related to the oil and gas industry
like oil spill and deepwater horizon explosion occurs. This research highlights some common
causes of marine accidents and its associated impact on the sea environment. The case studies of
oil pollution due to oil spills and explosion are also highlighted. This research also aims for the
investigation of the effectiveness of the international maritime laws and regulations and assess
whether or not some amendments is required for the laws in order to provide more security to the
marine environment.
1.1 Background of the study
According to the report of the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre
for the year 2011, the type of marine accident in the Mediterranean Region is mainly occurred
due to collision, grounding, fire and explosion, sinking, cargo transfer failure and other accidents
(Rempec 2018). There were 17% cases of collision, 21% cases of groundings, 14% of fire and

11DISSERTATION
collisions, 9% of sinking cases, 11% and 28% of cargo transfer failures and other accidents
respectively (Rempec 2018).The main reason for these accidents in the report is due to water
ingress or vessels capsizing (Rempec 2018). Another problem that is noticed is that there is no
maintenance of the ships and it is also found that there are 31% of ships that were between 16
and 25 years old 18% of ships are 35 years old (Rempec 2018). The report also shows that the
rate of accident increased in the year 2007 and reduced till 2010 (Rempec 2018).
Image 1: Accidental oil tanker spills in European seas
(Source: European Environment Agency 2018)
Compared to the year 1990 the number of accidental oil spills are diminished in 2005 but
the problem of major accidental oil tanker spills still remained at an irregular interval of time
(European Environment Agency 2018). It is found that every year; 10%-15% of oil enters into
the ocean due to the accidental oil tanker spills (European Environment Agency 2018).
Anyanova (2012) also stated that the impact of the marine accidents is the marine pollution and
the diminished condition of the marine animals. Oil pollution and oil rigs explosions are the main
reasons due to which pollution occurred in the Mediterranean region. Government also taken the

12DISSERTATION
initiative of developing rules and regulation on the marine pollution and the first such legislation
is OILPOL 54 Treaty that addresses the oil pollution at sea (Qayum and Zhu 2018). Another
treaty for maintaining the oil pollution is MARPOL 73/78 and Marine Environmental Protection
Committee is also responsible for developing regulations that can take proper actions for
avoiding the occurrence of the possibility of marine accidents. Problem with the OILPOL treat is
that it takes much time to take any action as according to the convention, the necessary action
will be taken if any problem in the sea is noticed. It is also found that OILPOL only targeted oily
waste in the oceanic region within 50 nautical-mile coastal zones and focused more on the oil
tankers resulting in no invigilation on non-tanker commercial vessels. As a result, tankers that
operate outside the coastal zones, tankers crews are free to discharge oily waste diminishing the
marine environment. Another adversity that is highlighted in OILPOL convention is that in
coastal and port states, sufficient enforcement controls is lacking. This limited ability for
monitoring oily discharge and lack of enthusiasm by the flag states in putting suspected
offending vessels on trial resulting in ineffective dealing with oil pollution.
Moreover, some of the port states do not have sufficient equipments to monitor any
adversity in sea. The disadvantage of the MARPOL 73/78 is that this convention focused on
international, environmental and maritime law. Since there are many jurisdiction handling the
regulation, time is a challenges as action in response to a suspected violation takes more time.
Szepes (2013) also stated that in many cases; due to involvement of more cost states tend to
defer some crucial responsibility in taking action in time. This is the main reason due to which
the accidents in the marine region cannot be controlled properly. Since, after incorporating a
number of legislations, the problem odd marine pollution due to oil pollution continues and thus,
this research aimed to highlight all the crucial aspects that are included for diminishing the

13DISSERTATION
marine accidents based on the evidences found on the major causes of and impact of the marine
accidents on the Mediterranean Region.
1.2 Rationale of the research
The problem for the occurrence of the marine accidents is the pollution due to which
much marine wildlife gets hampered. The major reason for the marine pollution is due to oil and
according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of U.S. Department of
Commerce, oil from boats leads to the pollution in the ocean (National Ocean Service 2018).
Exxon Valdez oil spill is the largest oil spill in the US that is occurred due to the grounding of
the Exxon Valdez oil tanker (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2018).
Similarly, in Mediterranean region, Lebanon oil spill in August, 2006 is the worst oil spill that
not only affects the sea animals but also creates problem to the human. Faghih-Roohi, Xie and
Ng (2014) also highlighted a fact that these accidents leads to loss of important resources,
careless nature of the desired marine workers, breakdown of equipments, natural disasters and
terrorists attacks. However, there are many legislations imposed on the companies dealing in the
marine route but in spite of following the legislation, these companies often opt paying the
compensation that does not reduce the challenges of the occurrence of the marine accidents.
Thus, it is important for analyzing the main reason for the occurrence of marine accidents and its
possible impact. The research aims for finding whether or not the existing legislations are
sufficient to address all the loss occurred by marine pollution and effective enough to reduce.
Based on the findings on the research, this research also highlights some suggestion to improve
the international maritime laws and regulations.

14DISSERTATION
1.3 Aim of the research
The primary aim of the research is to find whether or not the present international
maritime laws and regulations are effective in protecting the marine environment from the
accident caused in the marine surface. The suggestion on the legislation is made based on the
findings of the research on the common causes of maritime accidents occurrences and impacts
raised due to marine calamities.
1.4 Objective of the research
 To investigate the most common causes of maritime accidents occurrences in
Mediterranean Sea
 To identify the impacts due to marine calamities in Mediterranean Sea
 To suggest improvements regarding international maritime laws and regulations
1.5 Question of the research
 What are the most common causes of maritime accidents occurrences?
 What are the impacts raised due to marine calamities?
 Are there any improvements to be made regarding international maritime laws and
regulations?

15DISSERTATION
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Literature Review
Chapter Three: Research Methodology
Chapter Four: Data collection and Analysis
Chapter Five: Conclusion and Recommendation
1.6 Structure of the research
Image 2: Structure of the research
(Source: Created by Author)

16DISSERTATION
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.0 Introduction
Kum and Sahin (2015) stated that the damages in the ships and their facilities, which
caused any calamities or death is known as marine accidents. There are many reasons from
which the marine accidents can be occurred and it includes natural conditions, technical failures,
improper route conditions, ship-related factors and human errors. However, there are other
reasons also that can also be disadvantageous like offshore oil rig mishaps which occurred due to
improper maintenance of the heavy machineries and the complex process that is involved in
handling those machineries. Corovic and Djurovic (2013) also highlighted that people also
overlook some minor issues and sometimes the issues is that recruited people are not properly
trained. Cruise vessel mishaps also face the issue of capsizing and tough weather that causes
great damage to the ship and causes harm impact on the ocean. Lee, Yun and Chung (2012) also
stated that tugboats accidents that is occurred due to blockage of the visibility of tugboats due to
the presence of big vessels. Another reason for the occurrence of the marine accidents is that
when bottom of the ship’s hull gets rubbed into the ocean-bed. Kum and Sahin (2015) portrays
that due to this scrapes through the ocean-bed, the ship’s hull gets adversely impacted and finally
culminated creating pollution in the oceanic area. Oil spills due to the accidents of the vessel
while transporting through the ocean creates water pollution and impacted the marine wildlife
negatively. Government also imposed many rules for overcoming these adversities and reduces
the marine accidents but gaps are present due to which the accidents in the maritime occur often.
This chapter is based on the research that depicts Common causes of maritime accidents,
damages occurred due to marine pollution, factors that enhances marine environment, impacts

17DISSERTATION
rose due to marine calamities, existing international maritime laws and regulations and its
benefits and gaps in international maritime laws and regulations.
2.1 Common causes of maritime accidents
2.1.1 Offshore Oil Rig Mishaps
Sneddon, Mearns and Flin (2013) stated that the main causes for the offshore oil rig
mishaps due to improper maintenance of the heavy machineries and less handling knowledge of
those machineries. Xing et al. (2015) also depicted that there the major causes of the offshore oil
rig mishaps are transportation accidents, contact with other objects, fires and explosions and
falls, slips and trips. The transportation accidents occur due to more reliability of the offshore oil
and gas workers on the helicopters and water vehicles for transportation into the rigs. Abimbola,
Khan and Khakzad (2014) also portray that large vessels and cargos also came into contact with
other ships which causes in marine accidents. The problem of fire and explosion is mainly
occurred in the transportation of the oil and gas as these products are flammable materials which
make the products easily to catch fire due to leakage or sparks (Middleditch 2012). Ismail et al.
(2014) furthermore depicted that blowouts, negligence of human and equipment failures are
common factors for the occurrence of fire and explosion. On 20th of April 2010 incident of the
Gulf of Mexico oil spill occurred resulting in leakage of 185 million gallons or five million
barrels of oil in the water (Kuiper and Van den Brink 2012). The adverse impact that can be
witnessed during these kinds of accidents is that oil remained stuck under the water surface
which is difficult to remove.

18DISSERTATION
2.1.2 Fire and Explosions
The main reason for the occurrence of the fire is the presence of ignitions materials and
combustible air (Vinnem 2013). Akyuz and Celik (2014) also highlight that leakage of the air
and oil in the engine room resulting in the formulation of non-insulated hot area due to the fire in
the engine room. Akyuz (2017) research that occurrence of fire is more favorable when the
vessel is on passage at sea. It has been also found that most fire occurred in the Engine room due
to short circuit on electrical equipments and fuel leakage. The prime reason for the occurrence of
the leakage is poor maintenance of the equipments and proper auditing.
2.1.3 Sinking
The prime reason for sinking the ship is collision and can be cased due to natural reason
or by sudden accidents with other cargos. Titanic is one of the cases of the natural collision with
the iceberg. Ugurlu, Erol and Başar (2016) also stated that the equipment breakdown is another
reason for ships sinking and equipment breakdown near the ports, canals and busy routes results
in groundings and collisions. Inefficient or careless crew members hired in the marine transports
are negligent in case of routine checks of the ships. In many of the cases, due to negligence or
poor communication, the ship’s crew members are unable to know about the weather forecasting
which leads to the enhancement of increase the risk of accidents. One of the main reason due to
which the ship sank is the explosion that results in the breakage of the ship body due to which
water enters the ship and the ship sank. In some of the cases, collision also results in breakage of
the ships due to friction and heavy force in the body of the ship.
2.1.4 Grounding
The main reason for the ship grounding is extreme load upon the ship and the impact is of
two types- less severe accidents and severe accidents. Ugurlu et al. (2015) stated that in less

19DISSERTATION
severe accidents, only the damage is prepared to the hull; whereas, in case of serious accidents,
hull breaches, cargo oil spill and sinking of ships can also occur. The major causes of the
unintentional grounding are speed of the current, due to darkness, high tide and waves, depth of
waterway, old vessel, size of the vessel and type of the vessel. Some of the major ships
grounding cases are 2009 USS Port Royal grounding, Costa Concordia disaster, Rena grounding
and oil spill, Exxon Valdez oil spill and SS Torrey Canyon. SS Torrey Canyon is an oil tanker
that carried 120,000 tonnes of crude oil. The main reason for the grounding is environmental
disaster. The ship was initially designed for transporting the capacity of 60,000 tonnes of crude
oil but later enlarged to hold the capacity of 120,000 tonnes capacity in Japan. The size of the
tank is huge and due to same reason, the ship could not pass through the Suez Canal and decided
to go through the route of Africa by way of the Cape of Good Hope (The Guardian 2017). In this
case, the due to high tide and current speed, the ship ground and spilled on the sea. British
government also decided to set the wreck y fire so that lesser impact on the ocean can be made.
2.1.5 Collision
The terms collision refer to the situation when two objects comes in contact with extreme
force and in case of ship collision it is a structural impact between two ships or a ship with a
floating object on the ocean. Chauvin et al. (2013) stated that some of the reasons for the ship
collision are- debris on the ocean, environmental impact of the oil spill and damage to coastal or
off-shore infrastructure. There are different type of collision like side collision that occur when
one ship hit by another watercraft. Stern collision occurs when a watercraft runs into another
ship’s stern or rear. Bow-on collision is a situation where two ships collide from their front and
allision collision illustrates the ship accidents with a stationary objector. The major impact of the

20DISSERTATION
collision is that not only the oil on the tankers gets spilled but the ship’s parts also contribute to
the pollution on the ocean.
2.2 Impact of marine calamities
2.2.1 Diminished water quality
Liu and Zhu (2014) portray that staring from the oil spills and the drainage of sewage
water in the ocean resulting in pollution of the water bodies. The major damaged that is occurred
in this case is that the external materials results in the reductions in oxygen levels, severe
declination of the quality of the oxygen level and decay of water plants. These negative impacts
of these things are that the marine wildlife is not able to grow due to presence of less oxygen
(Schoenbaum 2012).
2.2.2 Loss of resources
The marine accidents occur due to the collision or explosion on the ocean surface.
Doerffer (2013) also stated that when these accidents occurs not only the big vessels, ships or
equipments gets hampered but lots of financial resources also gets impacted. Allo and Loureiro
(2013) also depicted that the financial resources required is not only for cleaning the waste
materials but also manufacturing the required equipments once again.
2.2.3 Loss of human life
Problem of oil and gas cargo explosions leads to the oil spillage that creates many
problems like air contamination. McCauley et al. (2015) stated that oil comprises of the many
volatile compounds that emitted gases which is dangerous for the body if inhaled. In addition to
that, people that have their profession related with water bodies like farmers and fishermen; they
get in direct contact with the unprocessed oil which may results in incurable skin diseases. These

21DISSERTATION
contaminated water when used for farming leads to the development of food products that gets
contaminated which on consuming leads to exposure to concentrations of contaminants.
2.2.4 Higher level of acidity
Akyuz (2017) stated that due to the marine accidents many external objects gets
submerged in the water body. Some of these substances are toxic in nature that is chemicals and
unprocessed oil. Liu and Zhu (2014) depicted that these substances makes the water body more
poisonous and resulting harm to fish and marine mammals. The plants and the corals under the
water also get affected due to which the marine environment gets diminished.
2.2.5 Effect on Food Chain
According to Wright, Thompson and Galloway (2013), food chain is a linear network of
the links between the producer organisms to the consumers. In the marine bodies, tiny one-celled
organisms (diatoms) start the food chain from the sunlight and these diatoms are fed by
shrimplike creatures, which is further fed by the fish and then the human eat those fishes.
However, marine accidents due to the oil spill block the sunlight hampers the food processing
system of the diatoms and the process furthermore affects the quality of the food chain. Walker
and Livingstone (2013) also portrays that chemicals do not dissolved in the ocean and on
ingesting the chemicals by the small organism, the entre food chain gets affected resulting in
poor health of the consumers.
2.3 Factors that enhances marine environment
2.3.1 Carefulness on the chemical compositions
It is fact that the main reason for the climate change and the marine pollution occurred
due excess human interference. The impact of the chemicals on the ocean bodies can be

22DISSERTATION
diminished if eco-friendly compositions can be formulated (Gerlach 2013). Vernberg and
Vernberg (2013) also stated that careful site monitoring should be included and different
governing legislations should also be imposed so that the chemical manufacturers keep those
regulations in mind. This approach will help in reducing the adversity of the mixing chemicals in
the ocean body.
2.3.2 Regular inspection
Some of the marine accidents cannot be controlled as it occurs accidentally. However, the
impact of the marine accidents can be diminished if regular inspection can be conducted as it
allows the management people to identify the factors due to which the accidents might occur.
Moreover, in the existing condition of the marine environment also allow the people in-charge to
forecast when the machinery needs to be changes and repaired. These approaches are useful for
reducing the impact of the marine pollution.
2.3.3 Strict governing rules
Walker and Livingstone (2013) highlighted that the rules and regulations are important
for binding all the people of a community. Regulations are important as it ensures the ethical
proceedings and general safety to accomplish a work (Radovic et al. 2014). In case of handling
the marine pollution, the strict governing rules and legislations promotes understanding of the
fair practices, gaining different aspects of the legal concerns and getting indulging with industry
laws and regulations (Leifer et al. 2012). Thus, it can be said that if government impose strict
regulations and penalty based on the marine working procedures of an organization, the business
firms will not take any steps that can harm the marine life.

23DISSERTATION
2.3.4 Ocean cleanups
It is found that every year, 4 and 12 million metric tons of plastic waste in thrown to the
ocean and due to this problem; many marine accidents occur (Gerlach 2013). Scientists also
found that these plastic wastes also impact the quality of the marine life which includes sea
turtles, seabirds, fish, whales and coral reefs. These plastic wastes also cause marine accidents if
stuck in the way while transporting the materials from one place to the other. Thus, regular clean
up of the ocean reduces the probability of the accidents. Leifer et al. (2012) furthermore
suggested that initiatives for ocean cleanups can be taken through awareness campaigns,
volunteering programs and imposing laws.
2.3.5 Training to the marine workers
Boubonari, Markos and Kevrekidis (2013) stated that the main reason for occurrence of
any adversity is lack of knowledge in the issue and the adversity might rise if the knowledge for
preventing the problem is not provided. Training is one of the effective measures that can not
only provides knowledge on the subject matter but also improve the decisions making ability.
The situation of the marine pollution can be overcome through training by teaching the employee
on the probable reason due to which the marine pollution occur and the existing methods to
overcome the adversity.
2.4 Types of marine calamities
2.4.1 Maritime Accidents
Chauvin et al. (2013) depict that the accidents that occurred in the marine bodies or ocean
is known as maritime accidents. One of the prime reasons for the occurrence of the maritime
accidents is offshore accidents. The term offshore accidents are mainly caused by the accidental

24DISSERTATION
falls of the employees, failure of equipments and fire in the deck of the ships (Montewka,
Goerlandt and Kujala 2012). Tirunagari et al. (2012) also highlight that the main reason for the
severity of the maritime accidents is that the help occurred lately due to long distance from the
nearest aid. Moreover, the lag time makes the consequences even worse. In addition to that, the
workers also have to deal with dangerous machinery in difficult weather.
There are many reasons for the occurrence of the offshore accidents and commercial
fishing is the first among them. Jensen et al. (2014) stated that the in United States, commercial
fishing is one of the dangerous jobs. Over the half cases of issues during the commercial fishing
are due to “vessel disaster,” such as crashing, sinking and a fire. The main reasons for the
occurrence of such accidents are dangerous weather, slippery surfaces and improper maintenance
of the vessels. In many a times, Crain accidents in the ocean surfaces occurred due to poor
maintenance and lack of training and supervision. In case of oil and gas offshore operations,
malfunctioning equipments, loose cables and fire occurred while aboard jack-up rigs. Hanninen
(2014) also highlighted the issue of proper handling the cargo ships in which improper
distribution of the weight is a common problem. It is also said that the due to this improper
weight distribution, the problem of capsizing and shrinking occurs. Oil platform is another
reason that enhances the probability of the marine accidents. Ugurlu et al. (2015) portrays that
since, in the oil and gas industry, workers handle flammable products; thus, improper
maintenance and handling of such products resulting in explosions. Additionally, hot work
accidents are the major source of the occurrence of the explosions. Stratmann and Boll (2016)
stated that the hot work accidents include welding, brazing and burning. Dogarawa (2012)
furthermore depicted that the workers has to accomplish these kind of task like welding inside
hollow or enclosed structures that increases the changes of marine accidents.

25DISSERTATION
2.4.2 Environmental Pollution
2.4.2.1 Pollution caused by ships
Tirunagari et al. (2012) stated that the large volume of the cargo is the main reason that
transportation of material through waterways has become a trend. However, there are some
aspects through which the marine pollution can be occurred. One of the major incidents is
transportation of oil in cargo. Doerffer (2013) highlight that there are two ways through which
the oil materials can create marine pollution- first is due to normal navigation and the second is
due to oil spillage. In case of normal navigation- oil tanker ballast water, cabin bilge water and
washing water are the main source that contaminated the water surface of the water body (Allo
and Loureiro 2013). On the other hand, oil spillage occurred when oil from the tankers spilled on
the water surface due to cargo accidents and tanker leakage. Moreover, the ships also transport
liquid toxic materials which on mixing with the water of the ocean affect the marine water life.
This creates the water pollution which is difficult to remove.
The engine to run the ship is of great power and need more energy fuel. However, the
sound that generate from the engine operations is high resulting in sound pollution. Kuiper and
Van den Brink (2012) stated that noise travels much easier in water and hence the impact of the
noise from the ships is high on the marine animals. Loughlin (2013) also stated that marine
animals are much more sensitive to the sound as they need to fulfill their basic life functions like
identification of predators a searching for food. Thus, on not adopting any preventive measures
for diminishing the noise pollution, underwater noise pollution could disrupt marine life.
Schwacke et al. (2013) highlight that the low frequency sonar sounds, which is used for
submarine detection, seismic air gun noise for the exploration process of presence of oil and gas

26DISSERTATION
and sound obtained from coastal jet ski traffic and commercial shipping traffic. The impact of the
sound pollution results in decreasing number of dolphins and whales.
Moreover, in the year 2005, seas surrounding Europe faced severe air pollution from
sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions. It is also found that from international shipping, 1.7 million
tonnes of sulphur dioxide (SO2) emitted a year along with 2.8 million tonnes of nitrogen dioxide
(NOx) emissions and 195,000 tonnes of particulate matter (PM 2.5) (Transport Environment
2018). The adverse impact of the impact of the poisonous gas on the human health is pre mature
death of the human which costs around €58 billion in Europe (Transport Environment 2018).
Scientists also reported that the mixture of the sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NOx)
leads to the formulation of the sulphate and nitrate aerosols (Transport Environment 2018).
Moreover, the black carbon emitted by the ships is the source of shipping problems and creates
air pollution. All these particles are carcinogenic in nature and cause heart and lung failures.
International Maritime Organization (IMO) on the other hand has taken the target of saving
26,000 lives a year from 2020 (Transport Environment 2018).
2.4.2.2 Pollution caused by oil
Oil spill cases ecological hazards which are occurred due to coverage of the oil film over
the sea as it blocks the oxygen levels and hampers the process of sea air exchange (De et al.
2013). Dogarawa (2012) also shows that since oil hinder the sun into the ocean, the temperature
of the water under the water drops resulting in disturbance in oxygen and carbon dioxide
balance. This process also hampers the objective conditions of photosynthesis. Dispersed and
emulsified oil invades the marine plants which resulted in destruction in the chlorophyll process.
The impact of this destruction is blockage of normal division of cells and respiratory track which
furthermore leads to another adversity that is destroying the main body of photosynthesis. This

27DISSERTATION
procedure results in the poor ecological maintenance under the water surface leads in death of
the marine animals and pollution due to debris. The oil explosion that is occurred due to leakage
on the oil vessel also leads to the air pollution. Hanninen (2014) stated that this air pollution also
impacts on the quality of the air for the local people and increasing the calamity of the global
warming and climate change.
2.4.3 Oil Spills
Considering the definition, Xing et al. (2015) stated that the process of escaping of oil
into the water body is known as oil spill. Abimbola, Khan and Khakzad (2014) also depicted that
in oil spill, not only the oil but the byproducts of the petroleum into the environment especially
the water body surface. There are several reasons due to which the adversity of the oil spill
occurs and one of the reasons is carelessness (Middleditch 2012). Errors made by people while
handling the oil and gas equipments leads to oil leakage. One of such incidents is Exxon Valdez
Oil Spill in the years 1989 (Loughlin 2013). The accidents that can arise from the human error
are gulf oil rig blowout. Liu and Zhu (2014) furthermore depicted that breakdown of the
equipments led to a number of oil spills. Natural disasters are one of the major reasons for the oil
spills and this kind of disaster cannot be controlled. Pipelines and oil tanker ships used for the
transportation of the petroleum gets affected in heavy storms in the oceans and hurricanes.
Doerffer (2013) also stated that heavy storms in the oceans floor which causes colossal oil spills.
One such example was La Coruña oil spill occurred in the year 1992 where the ship broken
down into two parts resulting in the spillage of 74,000 metric tons of crude oil (Wardley-Smith
2012).
The major effect of the oil spill can be witnessed from the condition of the seabirds.
Xing et al. (2015) highlight that the birds gets covered in the oil that is floated on the water

28DISSERTATION
surface which results in incapability in flying. In such scenario, the major impact is the death of
the birds. The oil spill also affects the food chain as during the spills, small organism like
plankton and larval fish gets affected which is fed by larger sea animals (Abimbola, Khan and
Khakzad (2014). Oil spills also blocks the cycle of sunlight and oxygen under the water
resulting in poor functioning of the plants which furthermore affects the cleaning of the water
body under the sea.
2.5 Existing international maritime laws and regulations and its benefits
2.5.1 SOLAS 74 for Safety of Life at Sea
Skora and Wolski (2016) stated that the fire and explosions are main risks of ship
operations and International Maritime Organization (IMO) has taken many initiatives for
prevention and mitigation of these risks. SOLAS Convention is one of the frameworks that cover
the safety life of the safety life in marine environment. SOLAS I/ 21, articles 8 and 12 from
MARPOL, it is a rule that the administration of the marine department are liable to report all the
activities regarding the sips under their flags. Akyuz and Celik (2014) also highlight that under
this convention the activities of construction, equipment and operation of the merchant ships is
mainly considered. This convention come into the force in the year 1980 and currently has 162
contracting states and also flags 99% of the merchant ships all over the world. This convention
has several chapters segregating the safety standard of the merchant ships. The first chapter of
the SOLAS 74 is the ‘general provision’ for certifying that all the merchant ships under the flag
meet the requirements of the convention. The second chapter comprised of the details of the
stability, machinery and electrical installations and fire protection, fire detection and fire
extinction of all the ships. The third chapter highlights the life-saving appliances and

29DISSERTATION
arrangements like requirements for life jackets, life boats and recues boats according to type of
ship.
The fourth chapter of the considered convention emphasized on the communication tools
so that news of any adversity can be informed without any delay (Kara, Kacmaz and Oksas
2016). In this case, the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS), which is an
internationally agreed-upon safety concerns for the ships and includes safety procedures, types of
equipment and the communication protocols so that the security of the ships can be ensured. The
fifth chapter of the SOLAS 74 highlights the safety of navigation which allows the marine
operations facility management to detect the sign of adversity prior hands. The stowage and
securing different types of cargos is considered under the provision of chapter six. Hermida-
Castro et al. (2013) however argued that this chapter though not involves the cargo containers
filled with liquid and gases in larger amount. Akaso (2012) on the other hand present a counter
statement that the seventh chapter of the SOLAS 74 considers the carriage of dangerous goods in
compliance with International Bulk Chemical Code (IBC Code).
The eighth and the ninth chapter of the considered convention focus on the radiation
hazards from the nuclear ships and management for the safe operation of ships respectively. The
safe operation of the ships also represents International Safety Management (ISM) Code of
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (Kristiansen 2013). According to the ISM
Code, the quality and the condition of the ship is audited, the Document of Compliance (DOC) is
issued with the validity of 5 years (Akaso 2012.). After the ships get a Document of Compliance
(DOC), each vessel of the ships should also be audited in compliance with ISM Code and this
case a Safety Management Certificate (SMS) will be issued and is given to the company between
second and third years of certificate validity. The safety of the high speed craft is covered under

30DISSERTATION
the chapter ten. The eleventh chapter of the same convention highlights the special measures to
enhance maritime safety and maritime security. The last chapter of the SOLAS 74 is additional
safety measures for bulk carriers which is over 150 meters in length. The thirteenth and fourteen
chapters of the same are added recently and is based on the verification of compliance and safety
measures for ships operating in polar waters (Bhattacharya 2012).
2.5.2 OILPOL 54 Treaty for addressing the oil pollution at sea
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil (OILPOL)
is a treaty that was subsumed by the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution
from Ships (MARPOL) (Anyanova 2012). OILPOL Treaty signed in London in the year 1954
but subsumed by the MARPOL in 1973 (Lagring, et al. 2012). The main focus area of this treaty
is that most of the cases of the oil pollution in the occurred due to cleaning of the cargo tanks.
Rothwell and Stephens (2016) stated that the during the washing of the oil cargos, the tanks are
washed with the water and the mixture of oil and water is pumped in the ocean.
One of the main concerns that are mentioned in this treaty is that the oily waste materials
should be dumped at a specific area from the land so that no human can gets affected. In addition
to that in this convention some of the ships are not included that is used for longer times in the
naval auxiliaries, ships used for the whaling industry and under 500 tons gross tonnage (Szepes
2013). Crime (2017) argued that this convention only focused on the ocean pollution that is
occurred due to oil tankers. Moreover, de Oliveira (2015) furthermore depicted that there are also
many areas that OILPOL does not considered like the discharge of the oil cannot be considered
punishable if the discharge of the oil made for securing the safety of the ship and saving life at
the sea. The discharge of the sediments is also not included in the cases, where the same is
cannot be pumped back into the cargo tanks and residue after the oil purification process.

31DISSERTATION
2.5.3 MARPOL 73/78 for marine pollution from ships
MARPOL 73/78 is a marine environmental convention internationally accepted and is
taken for diminishing the pollution of the oceans and seas (Rothwell and Stephens 2016).
Kristiansen (2013) stated that this convention also includes oil and air pollution along with
dumping of waste products in the ocean. MARPOL convention has many annexes in which the
first annex deals with the engine room waste. The second annex of this convention highlights the
cleaning of the cargo and oil tanks. MARPOL in this case, also mentioned about oil discharge
monitoring equipment to monitor the measurement of oil content in the slop in conformance with
regulations. The third annex measures the standards of the packing, labeling, marking along with
documentation, stowage, quantity subtraction and notifications for preventing pollution
(Babatunde and Akpambang 2017). Annex IV of this MARPOL convention focuses more on the
pollution controlling requirements through sewage from ships. Anne V is also mainly focused on
the “Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships” and specifies the
distance of the land from the disposure of the waste products. Lastly, the sixth annex introduces
the regulation for controlling the air pollution including the ozone depleting substances emission.
MARPOL suggests several methods for reducing pollution associated with operational
discharges and want to follow those requirements for reducing the marine pollution- crude oil
washings, load on top and segregated ballast tanks.
Crude oil washings
In this case, according to the MARPOL convention mentioned the technique of cleaning
off the walls of the cargo in place of water. Bhattacharya (2012) stated that the use of oil is
suggested as the crude oil has a good dissolving power and reduces residues and sludge. In

32DISSERTATION
addition to that, one advantage is that the use of water can be reduced. Akaso (2012) on the other
hand argued that the mixture of the cleaning oil with the crude oil is highly poisonous.
Load on top
Amiri and Rasheed (2012) stated that the crude oil contains of wax and other materials
which if stayed for longer time formulates a residue. The formulation of this residue occurs more
during the voyage and remained in the cargo even after the discharging of oiet al. (2012) also
stated that these residues when discharged into the sea remained on the surface of the sea for
longer time which causes the marine pollution. According to the MARPOL 73/78 convention,
operational waters are settled during the time of the voyage back to the loading port
(Bhattacharya 2012). During the standing time, the mixture of the oil and water separated and the
oil gradually comes on the top of the water surface which makes the heavier water to sink at the
bottom of the vessel. Skóra and Wolski (2016) also mentioned that the layer of the heavy water
surface is drawn leaving the concentrated oily surface that is transferred to the slop tank. Akaso
(2012) on the other hand stated that the major disadvantage of this technique is that this
procedure required skilled employees to accomplish the process in a correct way. On the other
hand, Babatunde and Akpambang (2017) also presents a statement in negation that the
accomplishment of the entire procedure need more time and hence cannot be applicable in case
of short coastal voyages.
Segregated ballast tanks (SBT)
The Segregated ballast tanks (SBT) is used only for carrying the ballast and this is free
from the pollution in marine surfaces that caused from the oil like things. Christodoulou-Varotsi
(2018) also stated that the only problem that is associated with the SBT is that when the ship
need to carry the more ballast more than its capability. The SBT can be substitute with that of the

33DISSERTATION
CBT also known as Clean Ballast Tanks and is used for carrying ballast water only. However,
according to the MARPOL 73/78 convention, principle CBTs can only be effective as SBTs if
these tanks will be kept clean from oil.
2.5.4 Civil Liability Convention (CLC) for addressing Oil Pollution Damage
The international compensation regime is applied for the accidents that causes by oil
pollution and is set up by 1969 Civil Liability Convention and 1971 Fund Convention and come
into force in the year 1975 (Iopcfunds 2018). This compensation convention is amended in the
year 1992. According to the International Maritime Organization, the Civil Liability Convention
(CLC) is used to ensure that people getting affected from oil pollution damage get proper
compensation. These accidents should only have to cause by maritime casualties involving oil-
carrying ships (International Maritime Organization 2018). It is also mentioned that, the
compensation can only be attained if the ships has been insured. According to this convention,
all seagoing vessels carrying oil in bulk are applicable but the tankers that carry 2,000 tons of
oil have to maintain insurance for oil pollution damage (International Maritime Organization
2018). The oil damage aspect that is highlighted in this case is from oil spills. This convention
does not cover the warships or a ship that is owned or operated by a State and used for
Government non-commercial service. Schoenbaum (2012) also highlight one drawback that oil
spill from laden tankers and cargos are covered but bunker spills from ships are not covered.
Later in this convention, some limitation has been added further. Ships that does not exceeds
5,000 gross tonnage, 3 million SDR has been provided to them, ships that exceeds 5,000 gross
tonnage but limited to 140,000 gross tonnage, 3 million SDR plus 420 SDR per unit of tonnage
liability has been provided (International Maritime Organization 2018). Lastly, for the ship

34DISSERTATION
contains more than 140,000 gross tonnage can get the liability up to 59.7 million SDR
(International Maritime Organization 2018).
It is also found that under the 1969 CLC, the ship owner’s liability limitations are lower
than the 1992 CLC (International Maritime Organization 2018). It is also found that the
maximum compensation that the ship owners can get under the 1969 convention is maximum to
14 million SDR but amount of compensation payable by the 1971 Fund for each incident under
the amended convention is was 60 million SDR (International Maritime Organization 2018). One
of the greatest limitation to this compensation convention is that there is no liability for the
pollution damage if the owner of the ship proves that the damage that occurred is due to the an
act of war, insurrection, civil war, hostilities or an inevitable and irresistible natural
phenomenon. The liability will also not occur if the cause of the damage is due to a third party
(International Maritime Organization 2018). It is also mentioned in this convention that the
negligence and wrongful act of Government or authority in maintenance of the light and other
navigational aids is also not allowed for liability for the oil pollution.
2.5.5 The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a regulation that
covers all forms of marine pollution. This convention is proposed in the year 1982 and comes
into force in the year 1994. However, Hong (2012) depict that this regulation does not consider
only the oil pollution but additional topics like safety of the ships, economic activity and dispute
resolution. The framework that is proposed through this legislation is to conserve and manage
the marine resources and play the role of an umbrella organization for respecting the similar
goals. This regulation also includes land-based and atmospheric sources of pollution and also
emphasized on endangered species.

35DISSERTATION
2.6 Gaps in international maritime laws and regulations
OILPOL
Oyende (2013) depicted that OILPOL is lacking sufficient enforcement controls for ports
and coastal states. Durak et al. (2016) provide the statement with the fact that first an
investigation is occurred in order to find any adversity in the marine operation and on finding the
evidences the managing body will take the decisions. Thus, in this case, since there are no
advanced equipments to monitor the oily discharge in the coastal and port states, OILPOL is not
effective in this case. Thus there is lack of reliable monitoring equipment and surveillance
capability.
MARPOL 73/78
Szepes (2013) stated that MARPOL 73/78 is a hybrid of international, environmental and
maritime law. Moreover, the states with greater economic condition are benefitted by this
convention. Narayanasamy et al. (2018) highlight that according to the equipment requirements
of the MARPOL is majorly focused on construction of new vessels and the replacement of the
older ship vessels. This treaty also emphasized more on the effective compliance by ship owners
rather than of using on discharge standards. In this case, since the port states have sufficient
incentives and financial resources, these states are able to enforce the equipment standards.
CLC 69
Application of the CLC 1969 with 1992 protocol only limited to the oil combined tankers
for oil spills. Thus, the oil spill occurred due to ships and bunkers also spilled from ships but are
not from bulk oil carriers. Thus, pollution occurred from these sources are not included both in
the 1969 and 1992 CLC. It is also the highlighted that the convection does not contain any

36DISSERTATION
definition of cargo and thus confusion whether or not the goods transported from one port to the
other are only considered.
UNCLOS
The drawback of UNCLOS is that it is very broad in nature and the authorization demand
over foreign flagged vessels is new to the system. Arbitration (2015) also depicted that UNCLOS
has lack of universal acceptance but considered as an important step in the correct direction for
the protection of the environment. Blummental and Mazza (2012) also highlight another
drawback that this convention is expensive in nature due to its international co-operation and
standards for shipping resulting in getting less preference from the ship owners. Arbitration
(2015) on the other hand argued that UNCLOS is a good and effective option of the ship safety,
labor conditions and protection of the environment.

37DISSERTATION
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.0 Introduction
The research is conducted for analyzing an issue in order to find some relevant solution
on a specific problem (Novikov and Novikov 2013). Mary Converse RN (2012) also stated that
there in research methodology section, different research methods for obtaining the research
objectives are discussed and justification for the relevance of the chosen method is also provided.
In major researches, the research methodology is utilized to answer the unanswered questions
based on the research topic or explore a new direction on the same (Coleman 2013). Moreover,
this chapter also highlighted the suitable method for the chosen problem, order of accuracy of the
result and efficiency of the method. However, for this research study, this chapter comprised of
research philosophy, research approach and research design along with their justification. The
data collection process and the analysis techniques are also discussed in this chapter followed by
the description of sampling technique and sample size. The research ethics, research limitations
and timeframe is also highlighted in the research.
3.1 Research Philosophy
Håkansson (2013) stated that research philosophy utilization is mainly for understanding
the nature and development of knowledge that provide the in-depth information based on the
research study. These data from the research is helpful in formulating the beliefs and
assumptions that helps in addressing the research objectives. There are three type of research
philosophies- positivism, interpretivism and realism. Positivism research philosophy is used
when a well structured research is planned to be formulated and a huge number of research
respondents are considered. Interpretivism research philosophy is used when small research

38DISSERTATION
respondents are selected or the research is based on social belief on the research topic. Lastly, the
realism philosophy is the combination of positivism and interpretivism philosophies.
3.1.1 Justification for selected research philosophy
In this research, interpretivism research philosophy is used as only those sample research
papers and database are considered that is based on the marine accidents, environmental
pollution and oil spills in the Mediterranean Region. Since, the research on the findings of the
published data, interpretivism research philosophy is suitable for this study.
3.2 Research Approach
van Wyk (2012) stated that the relevance of the formulated hypothesis and assumptions is
obtained through the research approach. In order to prove the relevance of the assumption there
are two different ways- deductive and inductive approach. In deductive approach, the validity of
the hypothesis or the assumptions is conducted based on the findings of the research made in the
literature review and data analysis (Tracy 2012). However, in inductive approach, emergence of
new theories and generalizations is considered based on the findings of the data collection.
In this research study, deductive research approach is followed.
3.2.1 Justification for chosen research approach
The deductive research approach is chosen as this research does not aim for the
development of any new theories. The prime aim of this research is to find the reason for the
cause of marine accidents and the possible impact that can be raised due to marine calamities.
Since, the main objectives are to find the research conducted, deductive approach is reliable for
this research.

39DISSERTATION
3.3 Research purpose
The main idea behind the utilization of the research purpose is to select a process through
which the research questions can be answered and there are two different ways through which
the research questions can be answered- descriptive and exploratory. Collis and Hussey (2013)
also stated that descriptive purpose is to describe the research questions based on the findings
from the data collection and analysis; on the other hand, the exploratory purpose is to find a new
direction that is based on the similar research topic. In this research, descriptive research purpose
is utilized.
3.3.1 Justification for selected research purpose
The main idea behind choosing the descriptive research purpose is that the selected
research articles and the database from authentic websites allowed the research to answer all the
research questions formulated for this study.
3.4 Data collection process
Smith (2015) stated that the process of gathering appropriate information representing the
research issue is known as data collection process. The importance of the data collection is that
the data gathered from the research questionnaire or other method to answer the stated research
questions and testing the hypothesis. Neuman (2013) also highlight that there are two different
categories of the data collection process- primary and secondary data collection process. The
research respondents are directly targeted for collecting data primarily and are gathered through
survey, questionnaire, interview and telephonic conversation. On the other hand, the secondary
data collection process refers to the situation when secondary sources like newspaper excerpts,
peer reviewed articles and statistical data from authentic websites like government sites and
company’s WebPages are selected.

40DISSERTATION
In this research study, secondary data collection process is utilized so that the exact
reason for the most common causes of maritime accidents occurrences along with the impacts
rose due to marine calamities. The secondary research is selected as the people working in the
extraction and other process are not well educated and they cannot well represent the cause and
impact of the marine calamities. The secondary research also allows formulating some
suggestions concerning international maritime laws and regulations based on the found evidence
from the literature review and data findings.
3.5 Data Analysis techniques
An applied research can be of two types, first is quantitative method and second is
qualitative method. Punch (2013) stated that quantitative research analysis method is taken into
consideration when the research is based on measurement of an amount and quantity. The
outcome of the quantitative research analysis technique is also in numbers or set of numbers.
This type of analysis is an iterative process and the result of such data analysis can be presented
in table, graphs and charts. On the other hand, when the quality of the research subject is
considered, qualitative research is opted. Zikmund et al. (2013) stated that this kind of research is
used when the data will be considered when the data will be analyzed theoretically. The major
characteristics of qualitative research are it is non-numerical and descriptive in nature.
In this research, only the secondary research is utilized as it comprised of well formulated
data based on the marine accident and its environmental impact. Moreover, the government sites
also published the related data of all the years which helps in comparing the progress in the field
of oil and gas accidents. Some of the data used for collecting the data for this research study is
“Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre (REMPEC)”, government sites like
http://dergipark.gov.tr/ and different research papers that is based on the similar topics.

41DISSERTATION
3.6 Sampling Technique
The sampling technique is utilized for selecting the sample size for the research and this
technique is of two different ways- probability and non-probability sampling technique. Levy
and Lemeshow (2013) portrays that in probability sampling technique in which all the research
respondents are provided with equal opportunity to share their perception on the research topic.
On the other hand, the non-probability sampling technique the research respondents and research
materials are selected based on some biasness and not all of them are given equal opportunity to
participate in the research study.
In this research study, non-probability sampling technique is utilized as all the database,
website logs and research papers are based on the Mediterranean Region which describes the
situation of causes of maritime accidents occurrences and impacts due to marine calamities.
Since, not all research papers on the marine accidents and region are selected in this research
study, the non-probability sampling technique is appropriate.
3.7 Ethical consideration
Research ethics is important to follow in every research and in this research all the
research articles considered are published within the 10 years so that no outdated data can be
utilized for this research study. All the research scholars are properly addressed and credited
through proper citations in the content of the research. Since, no questionnaire is used, thus, this
research is free from all the personal opinion by third parties.
3.8 Research limitation
The research limitation in this case is that this research is based only on the secondary
research and thus lacks the current perception of the Mediterranean Region. Moreover, this
research includes all the data for the oil pollution and environmental impact.

42DISSERTATION
3.9 Research Timeframe
Activity April May June1 June2 June3 June4 July1 July2 July3 July4 Aug1 Aug2 Aug3 Aug4
Proposal
Abstract
Introduction
Literature DC
Literature
DA
Research
Eth.
Methodology
Data Collection
Data
Analysis
Conclusion
Writing Rev.
Table 1: Timeframe of the research
(Source: Created by Author)
Project Plan Abbreviation Explanation:
Literature DC = Literature Review Data Collection
Literature DA = literature Review Data Analysis
Research Eth= Research Ethics Form development and Approval
Writing Review= Dissertation review and final writing improvement

43DISSERTATION
Chapter 4: Data collection and Analysis
4.1 Research Findings
In the year 1998, the report of Arab Academy for Science and Technology depicted that
the main reason they aimed for analyzing the surface samples of the Mediterranean Region for
three main objectives- hydrocarbon pollution, heavy metal pollution and radioactive pollution
(Chauvin et al. 2013). The research done by them also shows that the level of oil is present in
higher amount than mentioned in governing legislations. It is also found that this oil level is
higher in the anchorage area and port areas. Mediterranean Region comprised of places like
Spain, France, Croatia, Bosnia, Greece, Turkey, Monaco and Italy (Tirunagari et al. 2012). The
eastern shore of the Mediterranean Region comprised of Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Israel. In
addition to that, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Algeria are in the Southern shore and only
Malta and Cyprus are the two island nation of the Mediterranean Region (Hanninen 2014).
Majority of these places present in the border of the Mediterranean Sea and thus, the
transportation and business activities are accomplished through sea ports and ocean. In this
section, the discussion of the main causes of oil pollution along with the consequences of
maritime accidents in Mediterranean Region is highlighted. In addition to that, connection of the
Mediterranean Region and international maritime trade will also be discussed. Case studies of
maritime accidents during the period 1977-2013 took place in Mediterranean is also evaluated
followed by the social responsibility of the business company in environment. Lastly, the
existing legislative framework is examined in order to find any gaps so that proper
recommendations can be suggested for better outcome.

44DISSERTATION
4.2 Case studies of maritime accidents during the period 1977-2013 took place in
Mediterranean
4.1.2.1 MT Haven – Shipwreck- 1991
MT Haven also known as Amoco Milford Haven was a very large crude carrier (VLCC).
In the year 1991, the crude carrier was loaded with 144,000 tonnes which is equivalent to 1
million barrels of the crude oil (Madrid et al. 2015). As a result the ship was exploded and then
the carrier caught fire resulting sinking of MT Haven off the coast of Genoa, Italy (Masetti and
Calder 2014). The adversity that the marine environment has to face is that 50 million gallons of
crude oil spilled in the Mediterranean Sea. The crude carrier burnt contiguously for three days
and then broke into two parts. The sea was polluted then but the impact of this incident was
witnessed even after 12 years of the incident. This accident is considered the largest spill in
Mediterranean Sea that killed 6 people and the family members of the victims did not received
relief. In addition to that, millions of people living and working in the region gets affected from
the pollution occurred from the accident. Oil that was spilled covered the beach, make the water
and air polluted and the wildlife also get covered from the oil that was stuck on the surface of the
ocean.
It is also found that the ship aimed to unload 230,000 tonnes of the crude oil at a platform
but after unloading 80.000 tonnes, the unloading procedure night become wrong. The cause of
the spill was found to be the Iran-Iraq war, the concerned ship was struck by an Exocet missile in
the year 1987. The ship though repaired in Singapore and believed to be fit and eligible for oil
transportation; however, after the accidents the owner of the ships were blamed for putting the
wrecked ships in operation. The allegation was also in terms of failure to perform regular
maintenance.

45DISSERTATION
4.2.1 Irenes Serenade oil spill 1980
IRENES SERENADE is a cruise ship that was loaded with 102,600 tonnes of Iraqi crude
oil. In the year 1980, at the bunkering location, the vessel exploded in the forecastle resulting in
the fire and was continued to 14 hours (Schmidt-Etkin 2011). Additionally, half mile long spread
vessel leads to the leakage of oil up to 2 miles and the fire sank off Pylos Harbour which is
present close to the Sfakteria Island. It is also found that hundreds of tonnes of oil spilled and the
adversity has more significant effect as the spilled oil was the residue of the oil after the fire. The
escape path of the oil was the bunkers emanating from the engine room section. The estimated
amount of oil was 1000 tonnes in total (Rogowska and Namieśnik 2010).
Due to the oil spill the rocky shorelines became pockets of oil-in-water emulsion and the
sand and pebbles in the beach also become oily. Experts also reported that the seaweeds also
covered with oil affecting the underwater animals. The accident occurred also resulted in
contamination of water to the diameter of 100km (Alexopoulos and Konstantopoulos 2010).
4.2.2 Lebanon crisis oil spill in 2006
Lebanon Republic is a sovereign state in Western Asia and present at the crossroads of
the Mediterranean Basin (Neves et al. 2015). The worst environmental crisis in Lebanon’s
history is the oil spill in 2006. In this situation, on the beaches of Lebanon, there were dead
fishes on the beaches and thick layer of oil on the sand and the color of the water of the sea
changes from blue to black. The major reason for this situation is the oil spill from the Jiyyeh
power plant (Bulgarelli and Djavidnia 2012). The Jiyyeh power plant is located in the 30Km
south of the Lebanese capital (Pan, Tang and Zhang 2012). The oil spill occurred during the
Israel-Lebanon conflict in which due to bomb between July 13th to15th, 15,000 tons of oil was
spilled into the sea. The oil spill polluted the water body off of Syria and it was estimated by the

46DISSERTATION
regional governing bodies that the oil may reach to Turkey, Cyprus, and Greece (Alves et al.
2015).
The adverse effect that had occurred in this case is suffering of the marine animals like
fishes and turtles. Human were also in risk as the oil spill potentially increased the risk of cancer.
Goldman et al. (2015) highlighted that not only the oil spill that has caused marine pollution but
also a significant proportion of oil burnt leading to severe air pollution. According to The World
Conservation Union reports, cedar trees of Al-Shouf Reserve were also affected due to this spill.
After this incident, a resolution was passed by the UN General Assembly to pay Israel a
compensation of $850 million for war with Hezbollah (BBC 2014). The effect of this oil spill is
that it affected one-third of Lebanon's coastlines and the rocks of the beaches and other parts
covered by oil sludge through north of Beirut and Byblos (BBC 2014).
4.2.3 Satellite monitoring of the oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea
The satellite monitoring resulted in detection of 1640 oil spill in the year 2001 in
Mediterranean Sea. The SAR images from the European Commission found the result from 2900
SAR images.

47DISSERTATION
Image 3: Detection of the oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea for the year 2001
(Source: European Space Agency 2008)
Another research also shows that the density of the oil spill in not even throughout the
considered sea. The oil spill density is illustrated trough SAR images based on the width of the
oil spill and total number of images that is available satellite image. In this images the darker
region refers to the denser region; while, the lighter shades represents less denser regions.

48DISSERTATION
Image 4: Normalized density by oil spill for the year 2001
(Source: European Space Agency 2008)
The adversity of the oil spill is also based on the length and width of the oil spill. In
between the years 1999- 2001, most of the oil spill was occurred having the spill length of 5 to
10 km followed by 10 to 15 km length oil spill. In addition to that, the maximum width of the oil
spill occurred in the Mediterranean Sea was lesser than 1 km followed by spills that is greater
than 1 but restricted to 2 kms. The maximum number of oil spill area in the considered region
lies between 1- 5 km2 followed by 5- 10 km2 and 15- 20 km2 (European Space Agency 2008).
Image 5: Statistical Analysis of the length, width and area of the Oil Spills occurred in
Mediterranean Sea

49DISSERTATION
(Source: European Space Agency 2008)
However, when 5517 SAR satellite images are analyzed, it is found that there were 2544
possible oil spill detected in the Mediterranean Sea.
Image 6: Analysis of satellite images for the time 1999-2004 in Mediterranean Sea
(Source: European Space Agency 2008)

50DISSERTATION
4.3 Major findings of the oil spill occurred at the Mediterranean Sea
Image 7: Major tanker spill in the Mediterranean Sea since 1970
(Source: The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited 2003)
The report published by the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation
(ITOPF) illustrates that the risk of oil spill is due to coastal zone development, agricultural and
industrial run-offs, chronic pollution and illegal discharges at sea The International Tanker
Owners Pollution Federation Limited 2003). In some of the cases, eutrophication, urbanization,
introduction of foreign species and red tides are the reason due to which the oil spill occurs at the
Mediterranean Sea.
Furthermore, when the number of oil spill is considered, it has been found that in the year
1991 and 2000 there are maximum number of oil spill occurred in the Mediterranean Sea
followed by the year 1992 and 1993 (The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation
Limited 2003).

51DISSERTATION
Image 8: Quantity of oil spilled accidents excluding the major accidents from 1977- 2010
(Source: The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre 2018)
It has been noted that number of accidents which creates oil spill reduced from 56% of
the total number of accident to 47% from 1977- 1993 to 1994- 2010 (The Regional Marine
Pollution Emergency Response Centre 2018). The main reason for the reduced number of oil
spill incidents is due to the better compliance by the contracting parties. (The Regional Marine
Pollution Emergency Response Centre 2018) also mentioned that since the regulation has been
imposed that the contracting parties should report to REMPEC about those oil spill incidents that
are excess of 100 cubic meters (The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre
2018).
In case of the places, where more than 100 tonnes of the oil has been released, it has been
found that 18% of the oil spill cases has been seen in Italy, 30% in Greece, 14% in Spain, 8% in

52DISSERTATION
Egypt, 6% each in Algeria, Israel and Lebanon (The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency
Response Centre 2018).
Image 9: Countries where accidents involves with an oil spill over 100 tonnes from 1977-
20010
(Source: The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre 2018)
4.4 Main causes of oil pollution as well as the consequences of maritime accidents in
Mediterranean Region
The main causes of the marine accidents occur due to many reasons like collision,
grounding, fire and explosion, sinking, cargo transfer failure and others. It is also found from the
REMPEC database that the most significant reason for the marine vessel accident is due to fire
and explosion and grounding during the 1977- 1984 period of time (The Regional Marine
Pollution Emergency Response Centre 2018). The cargo transfer failure is also an added reason
for the marine vessel accidents in the time period 1985-1991 (The Regional Marine Pollution

53DISSERTATION
Emergency Response Centre 2018). Moreover, the number if marine accidents due to larger
vessel occurred due to other reason than sinking, fire and explosions, grounding and collisions
during the time1991- 1997 and recent time of 2004- 2010 (The Regional Marine Pollution
Emergency Response Centre 2018).
Image 10: Accident type distribution in maritime
(Source: The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre 2018)

54DISSERTATION
The research from Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) also shows
that types of vessels that are involved in the marine accidents are the oil tankers. 70% of the total
accident in 1977- 1984 is due to the oil tankers; however, the percentage of the accidents due to
the same vessel reduces to 23% by the year 2004- 2010 (The Regional Marine Pollution
Emergency Response Centre 2018). On the other hand, it is also found that the marine accidents
due to cargo has been increased from 17% to 30% for the year 1977- 1984 and 2004- 2010 (The
Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre 2018).
Image 11: Different categories of vessels involved in the marine accidents from 1977 to 2010
(Source: The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre 2018)
4.4.1 Gas Discovery
Goldman et al. (2014) stated that the gas discovery in the Mediterranean Region is not
only became an event of economic interest but it also enhances the risk of greater oil spills and
environmental risk. In the year 2010, one catastrophic incident of deepwater horizon oil and gas
disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. The reason for the occurrence of such incident was oil

55DISSERTATION
and gas exploration. During the year 2009-2010, in Israeli EEZ, large gas field has been
discovered which enhances the gas and oil exploration activities. In this case, the challenge that
Israel had to face is the taking decision in regards to the conservation efforts, marine safety, and
environmental protection (Mileski, Wang and Beacham IV 2014). The study shows that the
south eastern Mediterranean has 6 synoptic systems- Cyprus lows, Persian trough, Red Sea
trough, Sharav lows, Siberian high and Subtropical high. Doerffer (2013) on the other hand
stated that south-eastern Mediterranean Sea is a cyclonic area and the current is persistent all
over the year. However, this cyclonic area resulting in greater risk of the oil spills. The study of
this research also found that the risk of the oil spill in the Israel’s Mediterranean Sea region is
mostly in the pipelines, gas wells, shipping routes and single buoy moorings (Levin et al. 2015).
There are also some ocean models which are used to measure the probability of the oil spill due
to the condition of the ocean. These tree models are- SKIRON, SELIPS and MEDSLIK. The
Atmospheric Modeling and Weather Forecasting Group developed the SKIRON model for
obtaining daily atmospheric forecast with temporal resolution and horizontal spatial resolution
(Levin et al. 2015). The SKIRON model estimated that the non-summer quadrants are biased
towards severe weather. On the other hand, South Eastern Levantine Israeli Prediction System
(SELIPS) another Oceanic model use for forecasting the temperature, salinity and sea currents in
the Levantine basin (Levin et al. 2015). Lastly, the MEDSLIK investigate the oil slicks using a
3D Monte Carlo process through the calculation of the hundreds of small oil parcels for each of
the oil slicks. This tool is also use for integrating Mediterranean Decision Support System and
help in investigating the actual reason in case oil spill event. Thus, the discovery of oil and gas
reservoirs results in marine accidents due to the poor weather conditions.

56DISSERTATION
4.5 Examining connection of the Mediterranean Region and international maritime trade
The Mediterranean is considered as a world trade route due to the reason that a third of
world passes through the sea for trading purpose. The common path that is used for transporting
the oil from one place to the other is through the mouth of the Suez Canal to the Straits of
Gibraltar and sometimes the later is replaced by Bosporus to the Black Sea. Ducruet and
Notteboom (2012) also stated that the Mediterranean region is also a crossroad of different
continents like- Africa, Asia and Europe. Another reason that the Mediterranean Sea is
considered as a world trade route as the sea is a landlocked sea and the surrounding coastal
countries also have the opportunities in developing their trade. Mediterranean countries have an
active maritime trade route with rest of the nations all over the world. However, the trade that is
mostly considered is trade between that of the EU with nations of Middle East and Asia via the
Mediterranean Sea. The data represent that; trade of approximately 210 million tonnes was
obtained between EU member states and Asia (Cullinane and Bergqvist 2014). The traffic in the
concerned sea port is highly imbalanced and among this traffic, two third of the traffic is caused
by European imports. It is also expected that the traffic can also further increase because the East
Asian Countries are continuously evolving.
In addition to that, South Mediterranean Countries have also improved their business
trades and on comparison to the rest of the world other than Europe, the quantity of trade is 280
million tonnes (European Institute of the Mediterranean. Anna Lindh Foundation 2009). The
traffic that is caused from South Mediterranean Countries trade largely comprised of bulk cargo
that carries oil total of 200 million tonnes (European Institute of the Mediterranean. Anna Lindh
Foundation 2009). The report also shows that materials other than bulk materials especially oil
comprised of quantity of 80 million tonnes (European Institute of the Mediterranean. Anna Lindh

57DISSERTATION
Foundation 2009). The six different components of the Mediterranean Maritime and Terrestrial
Traffic include intra- Mediterranean trades, Intra-EU trades, transit, national and coastal. In
addition to that, the trade between EU countries and Mediterranean countries in case of non-bulk
products amounts 106 million tonnes (European Institute of the Mediterranean. Anna Lindh
Foundation 2009).
Image 12: Components of the Mediterranean Maritime and Terrestrial Traffic
(Source: European Institute of the Mediterranean. Anna Lindh Foundation 2009)
The trend of international trade global GDP and transport by the means of container
represents that from the year 1980 that international trade through the Mediterranean Sea has
been increased resulting in the enhanced total trade through water ways and improved GDP by
the year 2014 (Amato and Lanzau 2016). The graph also represents that container sector
compared to the world GDP and international trade is growing faster.

58DISSERTATION
Image 13: Trend of international trade, global GDP and transport good through
containerization
(Source: Amato and Lanzau 2016)
In the 1970s, the growth of the business material transportations is carried out through
cargo mode as the materials transported are in bulk. In this time some of the major ports that
have been used for material transportation through containers are Trans-Atlantic routes, Trans-
Pacific routes and some other ports (Amato and Lanzau 2016). Additionally, the liberalization
and opening of markets plays a crucial role increase in international trade. In recent time, the
most preferable containerized freight transport mode is to chose the carriers as it leads to cost
saving. In addition to that the spread of containerized transport has been also increased due to the
emergence in the maritime transport resulting in the maintenance and handling of the goods more
efficient and widespread. As a result, not only the containerized transport has been increased but
the traffic through the Suez Canal has also become greater than before.

59DISSERTATION
Image 14: Traffic in the Suez Canal from 2008- 2014
(Source: Amato and Lanzau 2016)
4.6 Social responsibility of the company in environment and analyzing existing legislative
framework
As emphasised by Akaso (2012), every organization has focus on maintaining effective
social responsibilities for running the entire process of business. Especially, business
organizations belonging to oil industry have to face innumerable environmental issues due to
frequent marine accidents and oil spills. In this very specific part some of the most effective
legislations have been critically analyzed by finding its scopes of improvement.
4.6.1 The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea otherwise named as Law of Sea
Convention is the regulation that enables the nation in maintaining proper roles and
responsibilities regarding the use of World’s ocean. Published in 1982, this particular treaty has
implied that people of nation should show their concerned outlook while maintaining water
transportation (Hong 2012). The concept of freedom of the seas prevailed a dominantly which
enabled the water traveller in misusing water of ocean. Throwing garbage on the water,

60DISSERTATION
hydrocarbon exploration are the day to day incidents based on which the rate of marine pollution
was increasing day by day. UNCLOS replaced the concept of freedom of the sea. In the very
edge of 20th century nations showed a desire of extending national claims, protecting mineral
resources and saving fish, stocks and sea creature in order to maintain ecological balance. Klein
(2014) the emergence of UNCLOS had been raised for fulfilling the purpose of protecting
natural and environmental resources and nation would have to play the major responsibility.
After the implementation of this law large number of amendments and rectifications are
conducted in order to improve its major aspects. Still the regulation is not devoid of some of its
major limitations or gap.
 Gap of UNCLOS:
After the emergence of this law employers belonging to oil industry had faced immense
challenges in utilizing UNCLOS effectively due to some of major limitations. It is observed by
Blummental and Mazza (2012) that marine science and transfer of technology is not well
developed based on which sudden occurrences of marine accidents can be avoided. On the other
hand, it has also been identified that lack of educational training and technical capacity of the
management professionals is one of the most significant reasons based on which UNCLOS
cannot be implemented and followed properly.
4.6.2 The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by
Oil (OILPOL)
In 1954 the law of International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea
by Oil is signed in London. This particular law is administrated and promoted by International
maritime organizations. Stienen et al. (2017) stated that this particular law ensured that neither
water nor the marine area should be polluted while maintaining transportation system. It is

61DISSERTATION
however observed that the incident of oil pollution is occurring for cleaning up cargo tanks
Kirchner and Kleemola‐Juntunen (2018). At the time of cleaning up the cargo tanks waste
materials are mixed up with the water that automatically causes a serious harm of marine
creature. However, after the implementation of this regulation International maritime
organizations did not intend to wash cargo tanks on the ocean. Automatically, the scope of oil
pollution gets decreased due to the prevention implemented within maritime organizations.
Stienen et al. (2017) it is observed that accidents occur on the ship due to the lack of
discharging waste materials and oil. In this situation, the management professionals associated
with marine industry tend to focus on discharging oil for saving life and ship. However, at this
time the law of The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by
Oil cannot penalize the maritime industry for oil explosion on the sea in case of sudden
occurrences.
Gap on OILPOL:
In terms of implementing this law the organizations belonging oil and maritime industry
has to face innumerable challenges. Eze and Eze (2015) also depicted that in order to avoid the
punishable offence for wasting oils and other materials the organization intends to show false
incidents for pretending the fact that the professionals being compelled had to through oils and
other materials on the sea. As a result, large number of organizations is there which have saved
their professionals from being punished instead of having a strict consequence of denying
OILPOL.
In addition, it has also been observed that management needs to have professional
training and competency for avoiding oil pollution in marine. Kirchner and Kleemola‐Juntunen

62DISSERTATION
(2018) In large number of developing countries the professionals are not very educated in
realizing the importance of maintaining environmental balance in water. Automatically, these
countries have to face challenges in following the regulation of International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil effectively.
4.6.3 Civil Liability Convention (CLC)
Civil Liability Convention adopted in 1969 was launched for the purpose of providing
compensation to those persons who have to suffer in oil pollution damage which results from the
maritime causalities within oil-carrying ships. It is often emphasized by Mandaraka-Sheppard
(2014) that large number of professionals has to face serious damages due to marine accidents
and oil spills. Sometimes, they have to sacrifice their life due to sudden marine explosion,
collision and so on. However, the implementation of Civil Liability Convention enables that the
affected person form these kinds of incidents would be benefited either financially and socially.
As a result, the professionals would not feel insecure in being associated within maritime
industry and oil industry. Frynas (2012) portrays that the law also implies that ships carrying
2,000 tons of oil are required following insurance for overcoming any kind of oil pollution
damage.
 GAP in Civil Liability Convention:
This particular law is only applicable for oil spill and oil explosion. Professionals facing
damages due to marine crafts may have to surrender death or other drastic consequences.
However, this very specific regulation is very much restricted within oil pollution. As a result,
large number of employees shows their reluctant attitude in being associated with the maritime
industry due to the lack of security. Frynas (2012) thus highlighted that Civil Liability

63DISSERTATION
Convention could have been amended based on which professionals travelling on the ships can
get financial security due to any kind of damages caused by marine accidents.
4.6.4 The International convention for the prevention of pollution from ships (MARPOL)
73/78
MARPOL is implemented in order to prohibit all the ships for discharging wastes at sea
as they results in the pollution in the ocean. The types of ship that are present under this
regulation are oil tankers, cruise ships, container vessels and general cargo. Olita et al. (2012)
stated that the main aim of this convention is to reduce the quantity of the harmful materials in
the ocean. In spite of a good motive, the regulation faces some drawbacks. The MARPOL 73/78
implements the provision to not to dispose the waste in the ocean in spite of the fact that certain
waste can be disposed maintaining some criteria like distance from shore and type and condition
of the waste (Musk 2012). The countries from other regions when desire to trade with MARPOL
ratified countries, the vessel have to be well equipped to maintain the listed criteria. Another
problem with the MARPOL convention is that all the countries having the intention to trade in
the marine route need to meet the costs of providing port reception facilities and manages the
waste and disposal approach that is friendly to the environment. In such cases, the problem will
not arise, where wastes received in a small section compared to the adjacent municipality. Szepes
(2013) thus highlight the problem in case of states that creates greater volume of oil wastes and
there are no refineries that accept used oils. Thus it can be said that small community nations or
developing countries as it is then difficult for the nation to manage the disposal of the oil waste
in a eco-friendly manner. The problem continues with the funding aspects as according to the
MARPOL convention, countries have to provide adequate reception facilities to all of their ports,
anchorages and harbors. Olita et al. (2012) stated that the main reason for the occurrence of the

64DISSERTATION
problem is that a significant number of nations have foreign exchange difficulties that not only
delay the process of maintaining all the facilities but also the financing port reception facilities
are compromised due to lack of imported equipments, expertise and proper materials.
4.7 Analysis
4.7.1 Issues and proposed analysis to improve the current legislative framework
4.7.1 Recommendation on UNCLOS Convention
The gap that is identified in this is that the convention only mentioned set of rules that all
the trading nations have to implement. However, the problem occurred with all the nations that
there is lack of research and development infrastructures on marine science. Moreover, it is
difficult for the developing countries to invest financial resources on the development of such
infrastructures. These aspects results in lesser knowledge of the marine development science.
Thus, the problem of the lack of research and development infrastructures can be overcome by
the involvement of the government to fund for the development of marine knowledge and
conduct training programs so that more employees can be made aware of the marine science.
This will help the employees to handle the marine equipment more proficiently and identify any
problem in the initial stages. Thus, criteria for providing mandatory training should be included
and criteria to rate the oil trading companies should also be included so that companies that
follow the training guidelines can get more government preferences in terms of any support.
4.7.2 Recommendation on OILPOL Convention
The gap that is identified in this convention is that the company often misuses the
provision to discharge large number of oil waste if it seems to affect any employee on the ships
or hampers organizational resources. OILPOL have the regulation that no company can

65DISSERTATION
discharge oil waste into the sea as it creates marine pollution but on case it affects employee’s
lives or resources, the oil can be discharged into the ocean. Thus, the government needs to be
strict in terms to identify the genuineness of the claim for discharging oil into the ocean. Proper
documentation need to be submitted like quality of the equipments, existing condition of the
equipments and qualification of the employees allowed in the journey. All these aspects provide
satisfactory evidences to ensure the claims made by any oil trading company. Thus, including the
criteria to present the documentation of the ships and ability of the employee might reduce the
marine pollution.
4.7.3 Recommendation on CLC Convention
According to this convention, the employees and the staffs associated with the ship
journey will get financial benefits if the accidents will occur due to oil spill or oil discharge
accidents. The reason, this regulation is implemented is to motivate the employees to attend the
business travel for oil transportation. The gap that is identified is that the situation of internal
equipments failures, natural calamities and other criteria are not considered for the insurance of
the staffs. As a result, in spite of the fact that employee will get financial benefits if they get
affected by oil related accidents. This problem can be overcome by the detailed provision of the
rulebook that mention the details of the factors that will be considered under the insurance policy
of CLC. The state government and the company need to formulate a partnership so as to prepare
a mutual agreement based on which the provision of the insurance can be made transparent. The
government also includes compensation based on other disaster aspects like sea animal attacks,
natural calamities and internal failures. The government should also include some strict rules for
the occurrence of the internal failures so that no company can show the cases of internal failure
as a result of the oil spill or accidents related from the same.

66DISSERTATION
4.7.4 Recommendation on MARPOL Convention
The problem that is identified in case of the MARPOL convention is lack of oil refinery
in the developing countries due to which the oil waste cannot be discharged and disposed in a
procedure that is friendly to the environment. Thus, it is recommended to establish oil refinery in
every nation that are associated with the oil trading system. This establishment of the oil refinery
plant will remove the water from the oil mixture and then use the residue of the oil in an
appropriate manner. In addition to that, violation of MARPOL can also be proved by measuring
the quantity of oil waste discharge, which is impossible in case of small community nation due to
lack of modern equipments. This process results in lack of proper evidences that hampers the
marine environment. Thus, in terms of suggestions it can be said that new technology in lesser
cost should have to be developed so that all the nations can get the privilege to diminish the oil
waste and save marine environment.
Another problem that is highlighted is the funding problem due to which the developing
countries faces problem to trade with the nation that follows the MARPOL convention. It is
found that the cost involved to construct a reception facility in a nation starts at $500 million
USD and for small community nation, bearing this cost is impossible (Szepes 2013). The survey
conducted by Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) to 993 ports and it was found
that 104 ports do not have any receptions facilities. The adverse affect of this situation is that the
flagged sates also denied to follow the MARPOL convention of limited discharge of oil waste as
some of the port nation had not complied with the reception facility requirement (Szepes 2013).
In such cases, the problem can be resolved by initiating a proactive communication from the
two governing bodies so that the delay in the calculation and procedure to convert one currency

67DISSERTATION
to the other without any problem. This process will not only make the business process faster but
two different nations can develop a great relationship among each other.

68DISSERTATION
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation
5.1 Conclusion
The entire study has focused to provide in-depth overview on how oil Pollution and
Maritime Accidents are causing serious harms on the Mediterranean Region. In quest of
investing the most common causes of maritime accidents occurrences in Mediterranean Sea the
study has evaluated that offshore oil rig mishaps is one of the most significant reasons due to
which marine is getting polluted. The accidents of water transportation occur due to failure of the
offshore oil and gas professionals and associates. The incident of fire explosion is mainly
occurred while transporting oil and gas especially due to the flammable materials. These
materials let the products catch fire easily due to leakage or sparks. However, these kinds of
incidents become a serious cause of marine pollution. It has also been observed that fire
explosion has become a serious issue based on which people belonging to various geographical
boundaries of Mediterranean Region have to face immense challenges in leading an effective
regular life.
This very specific research has also aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the
international maritime laws and regulations and assess whether or not some amendments is
required for the laws in order to provide more security to the marine environment. While
evaluating the various regulations it is observed that UNCLOS is needed to implement for saving
the ocean from being misused. This specific regulation enabled the water traveller in misusing
water of ocean. Throwing garbage on the water, hydrocarbon exploration are the day to day
incidents based on which the rate of marine pollution was increasing day by day. OILPOL
ensured that neither water nor the marine area should be polluted while maintaining

69DISSERTATION
transportation system. It is however observed that the incident of oil pollution is occurring for
cleaning up cargo tanks. At the time of cleaning up the cargo tanks waste materials are mixed up
with the water that automatically causes a serious harm of marine creature. Civil Liability
Convention adopted in 1969 was launched for the purpose of providing compensation to those
persons who have to suffer in oil pollution damage which results from the maritime causalities
within oil-carrying ships.
Based on the major regulations the study has provided some of the major limitations due
to which organizations belonging to maritime industry fail to implement effective maritime laws
and regulations. While evaluating the damages caused by marine accidents it is observed that
loss of water resources, loss of human life, loss of marine create as well as marine environment
are the primary damages. Due to these kinds of damages most of the areas of Mediterranean
Region have to face challenges in maintaining their ecological balance. By following appropriate
methodological tools the study has used appropriate research philosophy, approach and design
for conducting the entire process of research successfully. The study has chosen in selecting
secondary source of data collection technique which the researcher has presented the data
resources from various eminent scholars, website and news articles and so on. An effective and
systematic thematic analysis is conducted for analysing data and information regarding the
identified research issue.
5.2 Objective linking:
 Objective 1: To investigate the most common causes of maritime accidents occurrences in
Mediterranean Sea

70DISSERTATION
This particular objective is linked with the question number 2.1 from literature review. In
this specific part the study has evaluated various causes of maritime accidents occurrences
especially in Mediterranean Sea. Offshore oil rigs mishaps, fire and explosion, sinking are the
primary causes of rendering marine accidents in the Mediterranean Sea.
 Objective 2: To identify the impacts due to marine calamities in Mediterranean Sea
This objective is linked with question number 2.2 from literature review. In this specific
part, the study has mentioned that loss of resources, loss of human life, loss of marine
environment are the necessary impact resulted for marine calamities.
 Objective 3: To suggest improvements regarding international maritime laws and
regulations
This objective is linked with question number 4.2 where an in-depth analysis is provided
on how international maritime laws and regulations can be improved y following appropriate
recommendations.
5.3 Recommendations
After evaluating the research issue from various point of views the study has provided
some of the major recommendations which are as follows:
 The entire marine science and technology would have to be improved for overcoming fuel
leakages and waste materials
 Professionals associated with maritime industry would have to be more educated and
professionally trained to overcome any kind of marine damages and accidents
 Laws and regulations launched for overcoming marine calamities would have to be improved
for practically saving the maritime industry from being affected

71DISSERTATION
 Oil and Plastic Industries established in the coast of Mediterranean Region would have to be
more conscious at the time of fuel leakages. The professionals would have to detect the leak
and take a major action by implementing advanced technology based on which the marine
can be saved from being polluted
5.3 Future Scope of the study:
This very specific research is successfully conducted with the help of immense reliable
and valid resources. Still the study is not devoid of some of its major drawbacks. In the data
analysis part, the study has focused to follow secondary data analysis (thematic analysis).
Secondary data is highly based on the resource of journals, article and newspaper and so on. The
researcher could have used post-positivism research philosophy instead of interpretivism. Post
positivism research philosophy is based on keen observation along with appropriate evidence.
On the other hand, in interpretivism philosophy, the researcher gets enough scope of interpreting
data from different aspects. As a result, the data may lose its reliability and validity.
Moreover, the study could have focused in using primary data collection technique in
order to get immediate response from the participants. Primary source of data collection
technique is highly effective in involving the respondents directly to the research issue.
However, the entire time schedule of the research plans and activities can be extended in future
for gathering more relevant data and information on the identified research issue.

72DISSERTATION
Reference List
Abimbola, M., Khan, F. and Khakzad, N., 2014. Dynamic safety risk analysis of offshore
drilling. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 30, pp.74-85.
Acosta‐González, A., Rosselló‐Móra, R. and Marqués, S., 2013. Characterization of the
anaerobic microbial community in oil‐polluted subtidal sediments: aromatic biodegradation
potential after the Prestige oil spill. Environmental microbiology, 15(1), pp.77-92.
Akaso, A.A., 2012. Oceans Policy as a Sustainable Tool for the Regulation of the Marine
Environment. Int'l J. Advanced Legal Stud. & Governance, 3, p.71.
Akyuz, E. and Celik, M., 2014. Utilisation of cognitive map in modelling human error in marine
accident analysis and prevention. Safety science, 70, pp.19-28.
Akyuz, E., 2017. A marine accident analysing model to evaluate potential operational causes in
cargo ships. Safety science, 92, pp.17-25.
Alexopoulos, A.B. and Konstantopoulos, N., 2010. Managing Oil Spills in Greek Waters.
In Marketing And Management Sciences (pp. 230-236).
Alló, M. and Loureiro, M.L., 2013. Estimating a meta-damage regression model for large
accidental oil spills. Ecological Economics, 86, pp.167-175.
Alves, T.M., Kokinou, E., Zodiatis, G., Lardner, R., Panagiotakis, C. and Radhakrishnan, H.,
2015. Modelling of oil spills in confined maritime basins: The case for early response in the
Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Environmental pollution, 206, pp.390-399.
Amato, V. and Lanzau, G.G., 2016. The Mediterranean as a Hub of Maritime Trade and the Role
of the New Suez Canal. Sphere of Politics/Sfera Politicii, 24.

73DISSERTATION
Amiri, S.N. and Rasheed, H.A., 2012. Plastic buckling of moderately thick hemispherical shells
subjected to concentrated load on top. International Journal of Engineering Science, 50(1),
pp.151-165.
Anyanova, E., 2012. Oil pollution and international marine environmental law. In Sustainable
Development-Authoritative and Leading Edge Content for Environmental Management. InTech.
Arbitration, C.M.P.A., 2015. UNCLOS Annex VII Tribunal. Award (18 March 2015), para, 229,
p.229.
Babatunde, I.O. and Akpambang, E.M., 2017. Impediments to enforcement of environmental
treaties against oil pollution. Nnamdi Azikiwe University Journal of International Law and
Jurisprudence, 8(2), pp.12-27.
BBC., 2014. UN asks Israel to pay Lebanon $850m over oil spill. [online] Available at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30559670 [Accessed 05 Aug 2018].
Bhattacharya, S., 2012. The effectiveness of the ISM Code: A qualitative enquiry. Marine
Policy, 36(2), pp.528-535.
Blummental, M.D. and Mazza, M., 2012. Why to Forget UNCLOS. The Diplomat, 17.
Boubonari, T., Markos, A. and Kevrekidis, T., 2013. Greek pre-service teachers' knowledge,
attitudes, and environmental behavior toward marine pollution. The Journal of Environmental
Education, 44(4), pp.232-251.
Bulgarelli, B. and Djavidnia, S., 2012. On MODIS retrieval of oil spill spectral properties in the
marine environment. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 9(3), pp.398-402.
Chauvin, C., Lardjane, S., Morel, G., Clostermann, J.P. and Langard, B., 2013. Human and
organisational factors in maritime accidents: Analysis of collisions at sea using the
HFACS. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 59, pp.26-37.

74DISSERTATION
Christodoulou-Varotsi, I., 2018. Marine pollution from oil. In Marine Pollution Control (pp. 75-
100). Informa Law from Routledge.
Coleman, R. (Ed.)., 2013. Deleuze and research methodologies. Edinburgh University Press.
Collis, J. and Hussey, R., 2013. Business research: A practical guide for undergraduate and
postgraduate students. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Corovic, B.M. and Djurovic, P., 2013. Research of marine accidents through the prism of human
factors. PROMET-Traffic & Transportation, 25(4).
CRIME, A.A.E., 2017. Chapter Nine Ship-Source Pollution As An Environmental Crime Angela
Carpenter. Challenges and Critiques of the EU Internal Security Strategy: Rights, Power and
Security, p.227.
Cullinane, K. and Bergqvist, R., 2014. Emission control areas and their impact on maritime
transport.
de Oliveira, D.P., 2015. International Environmental Oil Law and Brazil. In Energy Law in
Brazil (pp. 191-207). Springer, Cham.
Doerffer, J.W., 2013. Oil spill response in the marine environment. Elsevier.
Dogarawa, L.B., 2012. Marine accidents in Northern Nigeria: Causes, prevention and
management. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social
Sciences, 2(11), p.378.
Ducruet, C. and Notteboom, T., 2012. The worldwide maritime network of container shipping:
spatial structure and regional dynamics. Global networks, 12(3), pp.395-423.
Durak, S.G., Acar, T.O., Kahraman, C., Balcıoğlu, E.B. and Tüfekci, N., 2016. Assesment of
Treatment Methods for Ship Originated Wastewaters. Proceedings Book, p.832.

75DISSERTATION
European Institute of the Mediterranean. Anna Lindh Foundation., 2009. The Components of
Maritime Transport in the Mediterranean. [online] Available at:
http://www.iemed.org/anuari/2009/aarticles/a255.pdf [Accessed 06 Aug 2018].
European Space Agency., 2008. Satellite monitoring of oil spills in the Mediterranean Sea for
1999-2004. [online] Available at:
http://earth.esa.int/seasar2008/participants/126/pres_126_topouzelis.pdf [Accessed 06 Aug
2018].
Eze, A.G. and Eze, T.C., 2015. International Law and the Prevention and Control of Oil and Gas
Pollution. JL Pol'y & Globalization, 35, p.24.
Faghih-Roohi, S., Xie, M. and Ng, K.M., 2014. Accident risk assessment in marine
transportation via Markov modelling and Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation. Ocean
engineering, 91, pp.363-370.
Frynas, J.G., 2012. Corporate social responsibility or government regulation? Evidence on oil
spill prevention. Ecology and Society, 17(4).
Gerlach, S.A., 2013. Marine pollution: diagnosis and therapy. Springer Science & Business
Media.
Goldman, R., Biton, E., Brokovich, E., Kark, S. and Levin, N., 2015. Oil spill contamination
probability in the southeastern Levantine basin. Marine pollution bulletin, 91(1), pp.347-356.
Håkansson, A., 2013. Portal of research methods and methodologies for research projects and
degree projects. In The 2013 World Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and
Applied Computing WORLDCOMP 2013; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 22-25 July (pp. 67-73).
CSREA Press USA.

76DISSERTATION
Hänninen, M., 2014. Bayesian networks for maritime traffic accident prevention: benefits and
challenges. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 73, pp.305-312.
Hermida-Castro, M.J., Hermida-Castro, D., Orosa, J.A. and Silva-Costas, M.M., 2013. Passenger
Ships Inspection in Spanish Ports Navigation. Journal of Maritime Research, 10(3), pp.3-6.
Hong, N., 2012. UNCLOS and ocean dispute settlement: Law and politics in the South China
Sea. Routledge.
International Maritime Organization., 2018. International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil
Pollution Damage (CLC). [online] Available at:
http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/International-Convention-
on-Civil-Liability-for-Oil-Pollution-Damage-(CLC).aspx [Accessed 05 Aug 2018].
Iopcfunds., 2018. The Old Regime: the 1969 Civil Liability Convention and the 1971 Fund
Convention. [online] Available at: https://www.iopcfunds.org/about-us/legal-framework/the-old-
regime-1969-clc-and-1971-fund-convention/ [Accessed 05 Aug 2018].
Ismail, Z., Kong, K.K., Othman, S.Z., Law, K.H., Khoo, S.Y., Ong, Z.C. and Shirazi, S.M.,
2014. Evaluating accidents in the offshore drilling of petroleum: Regional picture and reducing
impact. Measurement, 51, pp.18-33.
Jensen, O.C., Petursdottir, G., Holmen, I.M., Abrahamsen, A. and Lincoln, J., 2014. A review of
fatal accident incidence rate trends in fishing. International maritime health, 65(2), pp.47-52.
KARA, E.G.E., KAÇMAZ, E. and OKŞAŞ, O., 2016. Evaluation of Port State Performance of
Turkey. Proceedings Book, p.334.
Kirchner, S. and Kleemola‐Juntunen, P., 2018. Dumping and oil pollution: Regulatory
approaches for vessel operations in an ice‐free Central Arctic Ocean. Review of European,
Comparative & International Environmental Law, 27(1), pp.28-34.

77DISSERTATION
Klein, N., 2014. The Effectiveness of the UNCLOS Dispute Settlement Regime: Reaching for
the Stars?. In Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting (Vol. 108, pp. 359-364). Cambridge
University Press.
Kristiansen, S., 2013. Maritime transportation: safety management and risk analysis. Routledge.
Kuiper, J. and Van den Brink, W.J. eds., 2012. Fate and Effects of Oil in Marine Ecosystems:
Proceedings of the Conference on Oil Pollution Organized under the auspices of the
International Association on Water Pollution Research and Control (IAWPRC) by the
Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
23–27 February 1987. Springer Science & Business Media.
Kum, S. and Sahin, B., 2015. A root cause analysis for Arctic Marine accidents from 1993 to
2011. Safety science, 74, pp.206-220.
Lagring, R., Degraer, S., de Montpellier, G., Jacques, T., Van Roy, W. and Schallier, R., 2012.
Twenty years of Belgian North Sea aerial surveillance: a quantitative analysis of results confirms
effectiveness of international oil pollution legislation. Marine pollution bulletin, 64(3), pp.644-
652.
Lee, E.B., Yun, J.H. and Chung, S.T., 2012. A study on the development of the response
resource model of hazardous and noxious substances based on the risks of marine accidents in
Korea. Journal of Navigation and Port Research, 36(10), pp.857-864.
Leifer, I., Lehr, W.J., Simecek-Beatty, D., Bradley, E., Clark, R., Dennison, P., Hu, Y.,
Matheson, S., Jones, C.E., Holt, B. and Reif, M., 2012. State of the art satellite and airborne
marine oil spill remote sensing: Application to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Remote
Sensing of Environment, 124, pp.185-209.

78DISSERTATION
Levy, P.S. and Lemeshow, S., 2013. Sampling of populations: methods and applications. John
Wiley & Sons.
Liu, D. and Zhu, L., 2014. Assessing China׳ s legislation on compensation for marine ecological
damage: A case study of the Bohai oil spill. Marine Policy, 50, pp.18-26.
Loughlin, T.R. ed., 2013. Marine mammals and the Exxon Valdez. Academic Press.
Madrid, J.A., García-Olivares, A., Poy, J.B. and García-Ladona, E., 2015. Managing large oil
Spills in the Mediterranean. arXiv preprint arXiv:1510.00287.
Mandaraka-Sheppard, A., 2014. Modern maritime law and risk management. Informa Law from
Routledge.
Mary Converse RN, M. N. (2012). Philosophy of phenomenology: How understanding aids
research. Nurse Researcher (through 2013), 20(1), 28.
Masetti, G. and Calder, B., 2014. A risk index methodology for potentially polluting marine
sites. Environment Systems and Decisions, 34(3), pp.391-405.
McCauley, D.J., Pinsky, M.L., Palumbi, S.R., Estes, J.A., Joyce, F.H. and Warner, R.R., 2015.
Marine defaunation: animal loss in the global ocean. Science, 347(6219), p.1255641.
Middleditch, B.S. ed., 2012. Environmental effects of offshore oil production: The buccaneer gas
and oil field study (Vol. 14). Springer Science & Business Media.
Mileski, J.P., Wang, G. and Beacham IV, L.L., 2014. Understanding the causes of recent cruise
ship mishaps and disasters. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 13, pp.65-70.
Montewka, J., Goerlandt, F. and Kujala, P., 2012. Determination of collision criteria and
causation factors appropriate to a model for estimating the probability of maritime
accidents. Ocean engineering, 40, pp.50-61.

79DISSERTATION
Musk, S., 2012, June. Trends in oil spills from tankers and ITOPF non-tanker attended incidents.
In Proceedings of the Thirty-fifth AMOP Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination
and Response. Environment Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (pp. 775-797).
Na, J.U., Sim, M.S., Jo, I.J. and Song, H.G., 2012. The duration of acute health problems in
people involved with the cleanup operation of the Hebei Spirit oil spill. Marine pollution
bulletin, 64(6), pp.1246-1251.
Narayanasamy, S., Yang, F., Islam, R., Sardar, A., Garaniya, V., Kooshandehfar, P. and
Nikolova, N., 2018. Safety During Oil and Gas Transfer and Transport. Methods in Chemical
Process Safety.
National Ocean Service., 2018. What is the biggest source of pollution in the ocean?. [online]
Available at: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pollution.html [Accessed 21 Aug 2018].
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration., 2018. What Happens During an Oil Spill?.
[online] Available at: https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/training-and-education/education-
students-and-teachers/what-happens-during-oil-spill.html [Accessed 21 Aug 2018].
Neuman, W.L., 2013. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Pearson
education.
Neves, A.A.S., Pinardi, N., Martins, F., Janeiro, J., Samaras, A., Zodiatis, G. and De Dominicis,
M., 2015. Towards a common oil spill risk assessment framework–adapting ISO 31000 and
addressing uncertainties. Journal of environmental management, 159, pp.158-168.
Novikov, A.M. and Novikov, D.A., 2013. Research methodology: From philosophy of science to
research design. CRC Press.

80DISSERTATION
Olita, A., Cucco, A., Simeone, S., Ribotti, A., Fazioli, L., Sorgente, B. and Sorgente, R., 2012.
Oil spill hazard and risk assessment for the shorelines of a Mediterranean coastal
archipelago. Ocean & Coastal Management, 57, pp.44-52.
Oyende, K.B., 2013. An appraisal of the law relating to oil pollution in the inland, territorial
and maritime waters of Nigeria(Doctoral dissertation, University of KwaZulu-Natal,
Pietermaritzburg).
Pan, G., Tang, D. and Zhang, Y., 2012. Satellite monitoring of phytoplankton in the East
Mediterranean Sea after the 2006 Lebanon oil spill. International journal of remote
sensing, 33(23), pp.7482-7490.
Punch, K.F., 2013. Introduction to social research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. sage.
Qayum, S. and Zhu, W., 2018. An overview of International and Regional laws for the
prevention of Marine oil pollution and “International obligation of Pakistan”.
Radović, J.R., Aeppli, C., Nelson, R.K., Jimenez, N., Reddy, C.M., Bayona, J.M. and Albaigés,
J., 2014. Assessment of photochemical processes in marine oil spill fingerprinting. Marine
Pollution Bulletin, 79(1-2), pp.268-277.
Rempec., 2018. The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre. [online] Available
at: http://www.rempec.org/ [Accessed 21 Jul 2018].
Rogowska, J. and Namieśnik, J., 2010. Environmental implications of oil spills from shipping
accidents. In Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Volume 206 (pp. 95-
114). Springer, New York, NY.
Rothwell, D.R. and Stephens, T., 2016. The international law of the sea. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Schmidt-Etkin, D., 2011. Spill occurrences: a world overview. In Oil spill science and
technology (pp. 7-48).

81DISSERTATION
Schoenbaum, T.J., 2012. Liability for damages in oil spill accidents: evaluating the USA and
international law regimes in the light of Deepwater Horizon. Journal of environmental
law, 24(3), pp.395-416.
Schröder-Hinrichs, J.U., Hollnagel, E., Baldauf, M., Hofmann, S. and Kataria, A., 2013.
Maritime human factors and IMO policy. Maritime Policy & Management, 40(3), pp.243-260.
Schwacke, L.H., Smith, C.R., Townsend, F.I., Wells, R.S., Hart, L.B., Balmer, B.C., Collier,
T.K., De Guise, S., Fry, M.M., Guillette Jr, L.J. and Lamb, S.V., 2013. Health of common
bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, following the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill. Environmental science & technology, 48(1), pp.93-103.
Skóra, K. and Wolski, A., 2016. Voyage planning. Zeszyty Naukowe. Transport/Politechnika
Śląska.
Smith, J.A. ed., 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.
Sneddon, A., Mearns, K. and Flin, R., 2013. Stress, fatigue, situation awareness and safety in
offshore drilling crews. Safety Science, 56, pp.80-88.
Stienen, E.W., Courtens, W., Vanermen, N. and Verstraete, H., 2017. Long-term monitoring
study of beached seabirds shows that chronic oil pollution in the southern North Sea has almost
halted. Marine pollution bulletin, 115(1-2), pp.194-200.
Stratmann, T.C. and Boll, S., 2016. Demon Hunt-The Role of Endsley’s Demons of Situation
Awareness in Maritime Accidents. In Human-Centered and Error-Resilient Systems
Development (pp. 203-212). Springer, Cham.
Szepes, M., 2013. MARPOL 73/78: The Challenges of Regulating Vessel-Source Oil
Pollution. Manchester Rev. L. Crime & Ethics, 2, p.73.

82DISSERTATION
The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited., 2003. Mediterranean. [online]
Available at:
http://www.itopf.org/fileadmin/data/Documents/Country_Profiles/mediterranean.pdf [Accessed
06 Aug 2018].
The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre., 2018. Statistical analysis Alerts
and accidents database. [online] Available at:
http://www.rempec.org/admin/store/wyswigImg/file/Tools/Operational%20tools/Alerts%20and
%20accidents%20database/Statistics%20accidents%202011%20EN%20FINAL.pdf [Accessed
06 Aug 2018].
Tirunagari, S., Hanninen, M., Stanhlberg, K. and Kujala, P., 2012. Mining causal relations and
concepts in maritime accidents investigation reports. International Journal of Innovative
Research and Development, 1(10), pp.548-566.
Tracy, S.J., 2012. The toxic and mythical combination of a deductive writing logic for inductive
qualitative research. Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, 1(1), pp.109-141.
Transport Environment., 2018. Air pollution from ships. [online] Available at:
https://www.transportenvironment.org/what-we-do/shipping/air-pollution-ships [Accessed 27 Jul
2018].
Uğurlu, Ö., Erol, S. and Başar, E., 2016. The analysis of life safety and economic loss in marine
accidents occurring in the Turkish Straits. Maritime Policy & Management, 43(3), pp.356-370.
Ugurlu, O., Kose, E., Yıldırım, U. and Yuksekyıldız, E., 2015. Marine accident analysis for
collision and grounding in oil tanker using FTA method. Maritime Policy & Management, 42(2),
pp.163-185.
van Wyk, B. (2012). Research design and methods Part I. University of Western Cape.

83DISSERTATION
Vernberg, F.J. and Vernberg, W.B. eds., 2013. Pollution and physiology of marine organisms.
Elsevier.
Vinnem, J.E., 2013. Offshore risk assessment: principles, modelling and applications of QRA
studies. Springer Science & Business Media.
Wahyuni, D., 2012. The research design maze: Understanding paradigms, cases, methods and
methodologies.
Walker, C.H. and Livingstone, D.R. eds., 2013. Persistent pollutants in marine ecosystems.
Elsevier.
Wardley-Smith, J. ed., 2012. The prevention of oil pollution. Springer Science & Business
Media.
Wright, S.L., Thompson, R.C. and Galloway, T.S., 2013. The physical impacts of microplastics
on marine organisms: a review. Environmental pollution, 178, pp.483-492.
Xing, Q., Meng, R., Lou, M., Bing, L. and Liu, X., 2015. Remote sensing of ships and offshore
oil platforms and mapping the marine oil spill risk source in the Bohai Sea. Aquatic Procedia, 3,
pp.127-132.
Zikmund, W.G., Babin, B.J., Carr, J.C. and Griffin, M., 2013. Business research methods.
Cengage Learning.