2012 Ocean Ranger Guidebook Revision 3-7-12 - Alaska ...

2012 Ocean Ranger Guidebook 3-7-12
Section 7: Oil Pollution
General background:
Oil pollution is covered by MARPOL Annex I along with a collection of federal and state laws regarding
the discharge of oil and oily wastes. In the United States the most general oil regulation is 40 CFR 110.3
which prohibits discharge of oil in amounts which would cause a sheen, film, or discoloration of water.
In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s oil pollution was in the news as several cruise operators paid fines
totaling several millions of dollars for discharges of oil or oily waters. More recent cases in the general
shipping community involved bypasses (“magic pipes”) of oily water separators (OWS) and false
reporting of Oil Record Books (ORB).
Any sheens noted in the water need to be immediately reported to the vessel that you are reporting on.
The oil reporting from must also be filled out and submitted to your employer and ADEC. Many
observed sheens have not been caused by a cruise ship, but either by cruise ship related activities or
other harbor activities. All spills and sheens must be reported as quickly as possible, so that a source can
be determined and clean up (if possible) can begin.
Figure 1- Oil droplets from azipod seal failure
Figure 2- Small spill from ruptured hydraulic line
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