The Mediterranean Sea and its coastal communities face a permanent risk of oil spill pollution. Some 20 per cent of global oil transported by sea crosses this basin, and oil exploration -platforms dot various parts of it.
The presence of oil and petroleum residues in the marine environment results also from abusive spillages by ships and boats to the detriment of marine ecosystems, as well as to coastal resources when the oil reaches land.
This makes it all the more important for Mediterranean coastal states to commit their efforts to organise and prepare an operational response for marine oil pollution accidents, even more so in the central Mediterranean and the seas around the Maltese islands, which are major transit zones for maritime traffic.
The use of computer models to predict the movement and weathering of oil helps to make best use of the various measures and equipment that can be employed in case of an oil spill accident. Models can predict the expected state of the oil when it arrives at a given location, and answere questions such as how much will evaporate, the degree of emulsification of the remainder, how much will be dispersed as fine droplets in the water, where the oil spill is most likely move to, how soon it will get there, and which coastal resources it will threaten.
Medslik is the name given to an oil spill computer application model for the maritime areas around the Maltese Islands that has recently been developed by the Physical Oceanography (PO) unit at the International Ocean Institute's Malta operational centre (IOI-MOC), which is hosted by the University of Malta.
The oil spill model predicts the fate and evolution of possible oil slicks in the sea around the Maltese islands, and is able to anticipate likely impacts on the coast. It provides an early warming and mitigation tool to plan an effective response to keep oil away from key coastal resources.
Work on the model was co-ordinated by the centre's head Dr Aldo Drago in collaboration with a Cypriot expert, Prof. Robin Lardner. The activity was conducted as part of an EU-funded project, entitled Marine Pollution Monitoring and Mitigation by Remote Sensing (Mapres).
This modelling tool is proving to be very important for local civil protection and maritime authorities to combat oil pollution. It allows simulations using different types and positions of booms to assess the most adequate response to an oil slick. Trained personnel can then act to mitigate the effects of pollution more effectively.
Medslik can also compute and plot simple trajectories of floating objects. This is especially helpful to locate floating objects that are drifting on the sea surface. Search and rescue operations can therefore narrow the search area and locate people lost at sea in a shorter time.
The oil spill model relies on accurate input data, namely, the type of oil and its characteristics, forecasts of wind direction and strength, sea temperature, currents and conditions at sea. To this end the model makes use of the Rosario II forecasting system, which provides operational marine forecasts of weather variables. The PO unit publishes on a dedicated website daily forecasts in three-hour averaged fields.
As part of the Mapres project, the oil spill model was recently successfully tested in a simulation exercise conducted by the Italian coast guard off the coast of Pozzallo, Sicily. The aim was to compare the actual path followed by an artificial slick to the oil trajectory forecast by the model. Observational data of the slick movement was recorded by using the dedicated remote sensing aircraft of the Nucleo Aereo Due - Guardia Costiera.
The PO unit is engaged in oceanographic research covering coastal meteorology, hydrography and physical oceanography with a main emphasis on the study of the hydrodynamics of the sea in the vicinity of the Maltese islands.
Its activities include climatological studies of winds and waves in the central Mediterranean area. This data provides important baseline information for climate studies. The PO unit also participates in international co-operative ventures and specialises in data management and analysis.
A weather monitoring station on the Marsaxlokk harbour breakwater provides weather observations in real time, while the Malta Medgloss station in Portomaso provides updates on sea level and temperature.
The unit promotes activities in operational oceanography by installing and maintaining permanent meteo-marine monitoring systems, and providing atmospheric and marine forecasts which can be accessed from the IOI-MOC website www.capemalta.net.