European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / Cedre

G. Vincent / European Commission

ACCIDENT OF THE OIL TANKER “BALTIC CARRIER” OFF THEDANISH COASTLINE

FINAL REPORT

European Task Force in Denmark from 1st to 5 April, 2001

Gilles Vincent, (European Commission)Bernard Le Guen, Cedre, France

Stéphane Le Floch, Cedre, France

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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Table of contents

INTRODUCTION 1

PART 1: SUMMARY OF THE ACCIDENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL DATA 2

1.1. Summary of the accident: 2

1.2. Type of the shoreline and level of pollution 3

1.3. Weather conditions 3

PART 2: TASK FORCE VISITS ON SITE 4

2.1. Day 1 (2nd April 2001) 4

2.2. Day 2 (3rd of April) 7

2.3. End of the Task Force mission 10

PART 3: RECOMMANDATIONS AND ISSUES ARISING FROM THE VISITS ONSITE AND FROM THE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE DANISHEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY 10

3.1. The future cleaning operations 10

3.2. Monitoring programme 10

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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INTRODUCTION

This report describes the mission and recommendations of the European Task Force that wentto Denmark from 1st to 5 April 2001 in relation to the oil spill resulting from the collisionbetween the bulk carrier “Tern” and the oil tanker “Baltic Carrier” at the maritime borderbetween Germany and Denmark on March 29th in the early morning (Figure 1).

The report contains three parts:• Part 1 presents the summary of the incident, the environment and the maritime

weather conditions prevailing in this area,• Part 2 is the account of the experts visits on site,• Part 3 presents their recommendations and issues arising from observations of the

response on the shore (techniques used for cleaning and command structure) andfrom discussions held with the directorate of the Danish Civil Protection.

Following a request from the Danish authorities, The European Commission decided to sendthe European Task Force in order to help the Danish authorities to define the best means ofminimising the damage of the spill and to ensure the recovery of affected areas.

To this end, G. Vincent (European Commission), B. Le Guen (Cedre) and S. Le Floch(Cedre) were commissioned on site to provide their expertise.

Figure 1: Localisation of the collision between the “Baltic carrier” and the “Tern”.

Møn island

Falster island

Polluted area

Localisation of the accident

SwedenDenmark

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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PART 1: SUMMARY OF THE ACCIDENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL DATA

1.1. Summary of the accident:

In the morning of the 29th of March 2001 at 00.30 (L.T.), the cargo “Tern” and the tanker“Baltic Carrier” collided in the Baltic sea at the position 54°43N and 12°35E (Figure 1).The bulk carrier “Tern”, flying the Cyprus flag, which was carrying sugar from Cuba toLatvia by way of Rostock in Germany, ran into the tanker “Baltic Carrier”, under MarshallIsland flag, which was carrying 30.000 Tons of Heavy Fuel Oil 380 produced by UK Texaco,from Estonia to Sweden. The bulb of the cargo struck sharply the tanker at the level of thetank 6 that contained approximately 2.700 Tons of oil (Photos 1 and 2).

Photo 1: Baltic Carrier after the collision. Photo 2: hole in the starboard side of the tanknumber 6.

The release of Heavy FO began immediately and the 29th an emergency plan wasimplemented. An air survey, organised by the Danish air force, enabled to observe a slick atthe sea surface.Due to the conditions at sea and the extent of boat damages, the personnel failed to control therelease of oil. The slick began to drift with the wind and prevailing ocean currents towardsDanish shoreline. At 17.30 GMT, the slick went across the Grønesund strait and reached thecoast of Bogø, Møn and Falster islands (Figure 2). The main working spots were located inthis area (Figure 3).On Friday 30th March, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency arrived in Stubbekøbingarea in order to organise the collection of the oil that was stranded on beaches.Four days after the accident, the oil collected at sea was estimated around 940 Tons,15 vessels were involved in the operations, and the amount of oil collected on the shorelinewas estimated around 630 Tons, 220 persons participated in the cleaning operations.During our survey, the total known shoreline affected was estimated between 30 and 50 kmbut we did not perform a more precise survey due to time constraints.

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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Figure 2: Oil slick drift.

1.2. Type of the shoreline and level of pollution

The affected shoreline consisted mainly of wetlands and shingle beaches.

During the survey it was possible to estimate that between 10 and 20 km of wetlands werecontaminated. From sea to land, the first meter of this specific coastline, which is verysensitive, was highly polluted: oil was trapped by the reed stalks.Fenefjord is an area protected by law (bird sanctuary).

The pollution on shingle beaches was heterogeneous and different levels of contaminationwere observed. The biggest slicks, which were collected by heavy equipment, were locatedinbays.

1.3. Weather conditions

At sea, immediately after the accident, the weather conditions (no wind, 2,5 m waves) madeoperations at sea difficult.

However, during the period of the Task Force mission, the meteorological conditions wereideal for oil recover at sea (no wind, no waves).

MønBogø

Falster

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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Figure 3: The main working spots at the 2nd April 2001 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H) and sitesthat we visited (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) .

PART 2: TASK FORCE VISITS ON SITE

The experts visited some of the polluted sites during the 2nd and 3rd April.

2.1. Day 1 (2nd April 2001)

The expertise started with a briefing at the operational headquarters at Stubbekøbing. The OnScene Commander (from the Danish Civil protection) told us that 16 km of shoreline hadbeen reached by oil and divided for operational reasons in 8 zones (A, B, C, D, E, F,G and H).Taking into account that the weathering processes of the oil were quite limited, the Danishauthorities estimated that about 50 % of the oil discharged from the tanker had thus beenrecovered. About 220 persons from the Civil protection and volunteers were involved on theworking sites.After this overview, we moved to the working sites on the island of Bogø to visit 5 sites.

G

H

A, site 1site 2

B, site 3

C, site 4E, site 6

site 7

F, site 8D, site 9

site 5

site 10

Bogø

Møn

Falster

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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Site 1: (Photos 3 to 6)The most important one (also the mobile headquarters). It included two slicks of about 100 m2

contained with booms. The collecting operations were ongoing on one slick. They consistedof the transfer of oil from the shore to a provisional storage container before being transportedfor treatment (burning in an incineration factory). The Civil protection decided to rent heavyequipment such as backhoe and front-end loader in order to collect the oil on beaches.

Photo 3 Photo 4

Photo 5 Photo 6

Site 2: (Photos 7 & 8)On this site, a smaller slick was contained with two small sediment dikes. The recovery wasperformed with a vacuum truck. In the vicinity, several people collected patches of oil withshovels and dustbins.

Photo 7 Photo 8

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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Site 3: (Photo 9)A small site where the primary cleaning had just been completed. It illustrated the difficultiesfor the secondary cleaning phase regarding the cleaning of rocks and of shoreline vegetation.

Photo 9

Site 4:Similar to site 1.

Site 5: (Photos 10 & 11)The site is highly sensitive due to the nature of the shoreline (marshland) which made theaccess more difficult. During the survey, a big slick (estimated about 300 tons) wasdiscovered and a nearly continuous pollution of the shoreline over almost 1 km was observed.

Photo 10 Photo 11

In the evening of day 1, experts participated in a one-hour debriefing with Kolonnechef F.Nielsen at the headquarters in Stubbekøbing. During the exchange of views, the followingquestions were addressed:• the possibility of further developing pumping techniques less damaging for the

environment than backhoe or front-end loader,• the need to prevent the dissemination of the pollution, particularly during the transfer

operations and around the temporary storage site, in order to facilitate the second phase ofcleaning,

• the specific difficulties associated with site 5,• the precautions taken regarding human health aspects in relation to responders,• the strategy adopted regarding oiled birds.

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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2.2. Day 2 (3rd of April)

This day was devoted to finalizing the operational field survey started the day before and tocome back to some specific sites.

Back to site 1: (Photos 12 & 13)The collecting operations were in progress and the amount of oil was considerably reduced. Ifwe take into account only the quantities of oil collected, it is clearly apparent that themechanical shovel was efficient. On the other hand, the amount of recovered sand was hugewith regard to the quantity of oil. The beach facies was completely turned up side down dueto the mechanical tools.

Photo 12 Photo 13

Site 6: (Photos 14 & 15)This site was located on a small dike with a channel for water that connects the Bogø island tothe Møn island. In order to prevent the contamination of the Letten sea, two booms weredeployed. A vacuum truck pumped a slick between adjacent rocks with success.

Photo 14 Photo 15

Site 7: (Photo 16 & 17)A second mobile headquarters was located on this site near a quarry. The headquarterscovered the needs for a 4-km long shoreline of shingle beaches. Operations were ongoing dueto new oil arrivals, two backhoes were involved in the collecting operations.

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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Photo 16 Photo 17

Site 8: (Photos 18 & 19)Back to Bogø, this site was situated near the entrance of the Fanefjord bird sanctuary, whichwas protected by a long boom (300 metres). At this location, the shoreline included a bed ofreeds.

Photo18 Photo 19

Site 9: (Photos 20 & 21)A medium-size slick contained with a boom was being collected with two backhoes and onefront-end loader.

Photo 20 Photo 21

Site 10: (Photos 22 & 23)This site was characterised by the presence of three excavations used as temporary storage forcollected oil and sand.

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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Photo 22 Photo 23

Back to site 5: (Photos 24 to 27)Considerable work had been performed since the previous day. A boom contained the slickand two backhoes collected the oil. The Civil protection team planned to build a road withsheets of metal in order to facilitate the shoreline access.

Photo 24 Photo 25

Photo 26 Photo 27

Day 2 was closed by a debriefing with section leader Hans Bruhn at the headquarters inStubbekøbing. From a general standpoint, the mechanical recovery could be consideredefficient regardless of the environmental impacts of the heavy equipment involved in theoperations.For site 5, suggestions were made to adapt techniques to the forecast for the next two days.

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European Task Force in Denmark Final Report S. Le Floch – B. Le Guen / CedreG. Vincent / European Commission

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For sites 6 and 8, suggestions were made regarding the positioning of booms.

Concerning the amount of oil collected, the Danish authorities gave us the following figures:• 250 tons of oil fund in the bulb of the MS Tern• 965 tons recovered at sea• 250 tons collected on shore during March 31st

• 350 tons collected on shore during April 1st

• 130 tons collected on shore during April 2nd

• 190 tons collected on shore during April 3rd

In total, 2.135 tons of oil were recovered.

Moreover, about 2.300 dead birds were found at sea and on the shoreline.

2.3. End of the Task Force mission

On the 4th of April 2001, the Task Force mission ended with a debriefing at Copenhagen withthe representatives of the Danish Emergency Management Agency (Deputy Director TorbenNilsson and Brigade Commander Peter Wehler).

PART 3: RECOMMANDATIONS AND ISSUES ARISING FROM THE VISITSON SITE AND FROM THE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE DANISHEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

3.1. The future cleaning operations

Considering the extent of the oil spill, it appears clearly that several weeks will be needed toachieve the final cleaning operations.

For the cleaning of the shingles and pebbles from beaches, we can recommend the use of aconcrete mixer truck. Cleaning agents could be added to the water for these operations.Aromatic free solvents are recommended.

For wetlands, that have a very specific ecosystem due to their high sensitivity, the cleaningoperations should be performed with special care. We recommend in order to adapt thecleaning techniques to call for scientific expertise to avoid irreversible damages to flora andfauna.

3.2. Monitoring programme

Due to the sensitivity of some polluted shoreline (wetlands), it appears relevant to elaborate amonitoring programme in order to determine the actual impact on the environment.