غايتنا - Kuwait Oil Company

شركة نفط الكويتمشروع املحمية البحرية

الفكرةأصبحت حماية البيئة جزءا أساسيا من ثقافة الشركة وكل العاملني فيها.‏وأصبح التفكير في إيجاد سبل جديدة للحد من الضرر وحتسني البيئة همّايوميا لدى اجلميع.‏ وسرعان ما انبثقت لدى العاملني فكرة إنشاء فريقللغوصخاصبشركةنفطالكويت،ومنثممحميةبحرية.وماأناكتسبت الفكرة زخمها حتى انطلقت رسميا،‏ واختير يوم السادس من يونيو2006 لبدء جهود إنشاء هذه احملمية،‏ تيمناً‏ بيوم البيئة العاملي.‏الستفادة من جتارب الآخرينمتت االستفادة من جتارب اآلخرين العاملية واخلليجية واحمللية في إنشاءاحملميات وخبراتهم في التصميم،‏ ولذلك جرت لقاءات مع املسؤولني عناحملميات املماثلة مثل جلنة الغوص وجلنة التوثيق والتراث في اإلماراتالعربية املتحدة واحتاد الغواصني العاملي NAUI وجامعة اإلسكندريةوجامعة قطر.‏ وقد وفرت هذه االتصاالت وقتا كبيرا وقفز العمل باحملميةقفزات كبيرة.‏بناء املحميةبدأ العمل فورا على وضع تصميم احملمية،‏ واستعراض اجلدول الزمنيللتنفيذ بخصوص صناعة احلواضن ونقلها وإسقاطها في موضعها.‏وبعد االنتهاء من إعداد الدراسات حول الصعوبات الفنية اخلاصة بنقلاحلواضن وعملية إسقاطها،‏ بدأ العمل في إسقاط احلواضن في مكانهاالصحيح.‏لم تكن عملية إسقاط القطع سهلة مع وجود التيارات املائية،‏ وخصوصا أنهاحتتاج لدقة عالية لتكون في مكانها الصحيح مع مراعاة حلركة املياه.‏ وقدوضعت عالمات مسبقة وأعالم في األماكن احملددة لتنزيل الكتل تسهيالللعمل.‏ ومن الصعوبات األخرى التي واجهها الغواصون كان الهواء الالفحوالغبار وبرودة املاء الشديدة التي انخفضت أحيانا إلى 5 درجات مئوية،‏باإلضافة إلى كبر حجم احملمية.‏ وبالرغم من كل الصعوبات،‏ لم يقع أيحادث في كافة مراحل العمل.‏2

املحمية يف ‏سطورپ تتألف احملمية من 1.000 قطعة إسمنتية يتراوح وزن كل واحدة 800– 1.000 كغ.‏پ يتراوح عمق احملمية ما بني 7-5 أمتار في حالتي املد واجلزر.‏پ مجال الرؤية يصل إلى 3-1 أمتاراً.‏پ مساحة احملمية 54.000 م 2 مما يؤهلها لتكون األكبر في اخلليج،‏ ورمبافي العالم.‏پ مصنوعة مناسمنت غير ضار بالبيئة،‏ ودرجة حموضته معادلة حلموضةمياه البحر.‏پ تنتج كل حاضنة كتلة ‏"حيوية"‏ تصل إلى 180 كغ في السنة من الكائناتاحلية احليوانية والنباتية.‏مشاركون يف العملپ املركز العلميپ وزارة املواصالت – قطاع النقل واخلدمات املساندةپ خفر السواحلپ الهيئة العامة للبيئةپ الهيئة العامة لشئون الزراعة والثروة السمكية7

DIVE TEAM MEMBERSKOCTarek Al-Failakawi(President)Adel Al-HarbanMuhammad Al-BasriJamal SultanIbrahim SultanNasser Al-MurdiFuad Juma'aAhmad SafarNawaf Al-WazaqWafa' Al-HureibiJassem Al-AneziFaisal SalmainMusa'd Al-bawardiMuhammad HamidAbdul Aziz Al-QassarAli Bin MuhammadAbdul Rahman Al-FailakawiJuma'a Bin Hareth(UAE Dive Society)Ali Al-Zanhani(UAE Dive Society)Riad Al-Bannau(NAUI)COLONY COMMITTEEMEMBERSKOCIsmail Al-Khawari(Chairman)Nouri Al-KhatrashSaud Al-HumeidanHasan Al-BairamiMuhammad Al-BasriFayez Al-MazkourTarek Al-FailakawiWafa' Al- HureibiDari Al-GharaballiAbdul Aziz Al-QassarKhaled GhuloomAbdul Rahman Al-Kandari8

is similar to sea alkalinity.• Constructed of different shapes and sizes.• Each reef ball produces 180 kg of bio-mass per year.• Reef ball holes are suitable for a wide range of sea-bottomcreatures to grow in a natural habitat. The holes create watercurrents that attract crustaceous organisms which are thesource of nutrition for sea creatures.• Design was distributed in clusters following Ahmadi’s majorlandmarks. Each cluster is 20x30 meters.Participants• The Scientific Center Kuwait• State of Kuwait Ministry of Transportation, SupportServices Department• Environment Public Authority (EPA)• State of Kuwait Coast Guard• Public Authority of Agriculture & Fish Resources7

Reefs are fragile and susceptible to small changes in outsideconditions such as temperature (between 20-28 C), oxygenlevels and food mixture, etc. The coral reefs are under siege:numerous threats to their existence can be attributed directlyor indirectly to human interference such as excessive coastaldevelopment, destructive fishing practices and widespreadland-based as well as marine-based pollution.By providing food and shelter, coral reefs are the ideal habitatfor a large variety of organisms with their overwhelmingrange of colors, forms and shapes. The spectacular abundanceof creatures that live in the reef’s intricate ecosystem includefungi, mollusks, sea worms, crustaceans and sponges that boreinto coral skeletons as well as oysters, clams, sea urchins,jellyfish, sea anemones and turtles to name a few.The Colony In ShortUnderwater marine colonies consist of different designs, shapesand sizes of reef balls which are made of treated concrete andother associated (harmless) materials. They interact with themarine environment creating an artificial marine habitat.• Total number 1,000• Each reef ball weighs 800–1,000 kilograms• Constructed of environmentally-friendly concrete. Alkalinity6

well as soft and hard corals began to grow on the reef ballsthemselves.• Small fish, shrimps, crabs and other marine creatures usedthe reef balls for shelter and a food source.• Promising signs of nesting and mating of squid and othermarine species have been detected.Successes & AwardsKOC won the 1st Place in theEnvironment Development Awardgiven by the National Associationof Underwater Instructors (NAUI).The prestigious award is given fordistinguished projects in the fieldof protecting marine environment,among which was the Marine Colony,one of the biggest in the world.KOC also received the “ExceptionalPerformance in Environment Service” Award for majorcontributions in the development of diving programs andprotection of environment in Kuwait. KOC is the only oilcompany in the world to have won this trophy.Importance of Coral ReefsThe world’s coral reefs contain one-quarter of the world’sdiverse underwater species while occupying approximately0.2 percent of the world’s sea bed.Normally, coral reefs are situated in tropical waters. Coralreefs themselves are a good source of food; they attract otherunderwater organisms providing an ideal habitat for them toreproduce.5

above ground, namely: KOC Main Office, Ahmadi Governorate,Ahmadi Hospital, Petroleum Research & Study Center, KuwaitNational Petroleum Company, Stadium, Traffic & PoliceDepartment as well as North Tank Farm and South Tank farm.Project Goals1. Enhance marine and underwater aquatic life in keeping withKuwait Oil Company objectives to re-habilitate the environment.2. Create an innovative underwater marine laboratory to carryout scientific studies and research for local and internationaleducational institutions.3. Design and construct the largest artificial marine colony inthe region. (The original idea was to build one of the largestunderwater landmarks).4. The presence of existing underwater habitats such as thisencourages aquatic life to grow and establish colonies.5. Be the first oil company to create a dive team (and committee)to carry out a project of this magnitude.6. Enhance the KOC image and widen exposure internationally.7. Participate in world environmental conventions and exhibitionsto attract local and international media attention.Promising Results• Within one week after placing the reef balls in place, severalkinds of fish and shellfish began to inhabit the reef balls.• Within one month, many types of plants and animals as4

LocationThe 54,000 square metre marine colony is located approximately4 nautical miles south of Ahmadi Port and 1.5 nauticalmiles off shore. Depth ranges from 7-9 meters depending onlow and high tides.The site was selected for its suitability for the growth of coralincluding water depth, currents, temperature, sea-bottom, lightand other components vital to marine life. The exact locationis closely watched by the Coast Guard, safeguarding the sitefrom intruders.Great specificationsThe depth of the colony is approximately 5-7 meters at bothhigh and low tides. Visibility ranges between 1 to 3 meters.With its 54.000 m2, the biggest of its kind in the Gulf andmay be the world’s largest man-made colony, this marinecolony is a superb site for diving. The reef balls are made ofenvironment-friendly treated concrete. Some balls were filledwith tree branches to create a nutrition source for fish andother sea creatures. Each ball produces 180 kg of bio-massper year.Ahmadi City UnderwaterThe colony was built to match Ahmadi City’s major landmarks3

The ideaProtecting the environment concerns all employees, in fact,increasingly, ‘Thinking about the Environment’ has becomepart of daily life. Recently, the Community Services Groupemployees began thinking about creating a KOC MarineColony together with the KOC Dive Team. The idea gainedsupport.The kick-off was on International Environment Day on June6, 2006.Learning From OthersA series of meetings ensued with regional and internationalenvironmental and diving authorities including the EmiratesDiving Committee, Documentation and Heritage Committee,UAE, the National Association of Underwater Instructors(NAUI), and Alexandria University, to benefit from theirexperiences in this field .Colony ConstructionAfter finishing the design and time schedule, work beganin manufacturing the reef balls. Once the technical andtransportation difficulties were overcome, the reef balls weredropped in their designated location. However, the processwas not easy; underwater currents doubled the difficultyas the balls need calm waters to drop them precisely at thedesignated spots. In order to ease the problem, those locationswere marked by flags. Other difficulties included wind, dustand cold weather, and low temperatures dropping to 5˚ C. still.Despite the huge size, not a single incident occurred during theconstruction of the colony.2

The Kuwait Oil Company is the world’sfirst oil company to develop a marine colony.The KOC Marine Colony falls in line withthe KOC’s environmental commitment topreserve, develop and re-habilitate Kuwait'snatural resources and maintain them for futuregenerations to come.The KOC Marine Colony is part of Kuwait’ssustainable development model, an integral partof the company’s focus on social responsibilitiesto Kuwait society and the environment. Withinthis wider concept, KOC plays a major rolein developing every sector of society be itthe economy, education, culture, art or sportsin addition to its vital role in maintaining thelong-term welfare of Kuwait.The main goal of this project is to preserve,develop and rehabilitate marine life, one ofKuwait’s major natural resources. It is part ofa wider vision to nourish and protect the entireecological system of the State of Kuwait.1

Kuwait Oil CompanyMarine ColonyProject

Protection ofEnvironment..Our Heritage& Our Future Kuwait Oil CompanyA subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporationwww.kockw.com