[attach id=199147 size="medium"]EU-funded high-frequency radars will beam hourly data on waves and currents, promoting better security and safety at sea and vastly improving our ability to respond to oil spills.[/attach]
An improved response to marine hazards will soon be available thanks to new technology that helps monitor the sea between Malta and Sicily.
Malta’s water production, power stations and the tourism industry all stand to be heavily impacted by a major oil spill- Anne Zammit
A seminar held recently, as part of the Calypso project between Italian and Maltese partners, revealed a plan to set up an array of high-frequency radars to monitor conditions on the sea surface in real time.
In his opening address, project leader Aldo Drago of the International Ocean Institute-Malta Operational Centre’s Physical Oceanography Unit at the University pointed out that Malta’s coastline was under constant threat from the millions of tonnes of crude oil and hazardous materials passing by in close proximity.
Contrary to popular misconception, oil and other pollution is not so easily washed away from our shores. Often it can be expected to be driven by currents towards our shores from Sicily, be blown away only to return repeatedly with every change in conditions.
Partly financed under the Italy-Malta operational programme 2007-2013 the project has four Italian partners made up of the regional environmental protection agency Arpa, the institute for coastal environment IAMC-CNR and the universities of Palermo and Catania.
Transport Malta, the Civil Protection Department and the Armed Forces of Malta are the other local partners in the project, which combines research entities with public entities responsible for civiland environmental protection,surveillance and security.
The compact, high-frequency radars to be installed near the Ta’ Barkat treatment plant in Malta and at Il-Qortin in Gozo are expected to be fully operational by early next year.
A third radar installation at Pozzallo, Sicily, will overlap with real time data of surface currents and waves updated hourly via the two radars in Malta and Gozo. While the radar masts are modest in size, the technology has big implications for coastal protection from oil pollution on both sides, not just on the open sea but close to shore where potential impact is highest.
With the support of numerical modelling applications, the high-frequency radar data will provide accurate information to monitor and respond effectively to threats from marine oil spills. Apart from their application in oil spill response, these radars also provide an avenue for wider applications, including search and rescue, and safer navigation.
The risk of oil from marine spillages beaching on shores, hitting important infrastructure and causing irreversible environmental damage is a very real threat in the stretch of sea between Malta and Sicily. Malta and Gozo are on the main ‘vein’ of maritime transportation routes in the Mediterranean, accounting for around 20 per cent of the world’s oil tanker traffic.
Posing other threats, stationery vessels at nearby Hurd’s Bank, other tankers passing to the south of Malta and cargo ships with hazardous noxious substances constitute a constant menace. These risks can be reduced by using surveillance tools, monitoring against pollution threats and a well-developed capacity to respond quickly with informed decisions in case of emergency.
Sea currents can often move in a direction entirely independent of the wind. The Atlantic-Ionian stream sweeps in from northern Tunisia across to Sicily, reaching speeds of 30 cm per second off the tip of southwestern Sicily.
Malta’s water production, power stations and the tourism industry all stand to be heavily impacted by a major oil spill occurring in the region, especially if the weather and sea conditions are unfavourable at the time of the incident.
Malta’s remits and responsibilities far outweigh the size of the island. A national system for honouring them must beset up, strengthening our capability to follow the relevant European directives.
Senior manager Charles Abela of Transport Malta’s ports directorate observed that a single marine surveillance effort centralised information in one place instead of having different public authorities owning data while not always sharing it.
Changing conditions at sea are complex to monitor. Data on currents and wave height, soon to be available with the multi-static synoptic radars in place, will have a wide range of applications.
The Armed Forces of Malta, covering a search and rescue area which is 800 times Malta’s land area, is an important link in the project. So far, AFM investment in planning and training has adopted a tool developed by the US Coastguard, requiring very detailed environmental data on conditions at sea to function at its best.
As part of EU civil protection at regional level, the Civil Protection Department recognises the worth of the project in establishing dialogue between authorities in Malta and their Sicilian counterparts. An open desk approach would promote flow of information with Italian engineer support for the EU-funded radar installations.
Information obtained should provide a better means of assessing and combating an approaching oil slick to avoid major impact by knowing where to place the booms ahead of time to contain and limit damage.
Gabino Gonzalez, programme officer for the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre (Rempec) referred to the 193 oil fields currently in production in the Mediterranean. He spoke of the obligation under Rempec-Moon (Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network) to provide forecast models within an hour or two of receiving a request.
An environment sustainability index rates different types of coastline – for example, rocks have low sensitivity to oil spills, but wetlands are highly sensitive and most vulnerable to incidents.
During question time, Simone Borg, head of the university’s Department of Law and a lecturer in environment and resources law, pointed out that the 1976 UN Law of the Sea (repeatedly rolled out by government delegations at international fora) envisaged a marine pollution act which had, to date, never come into force in Malta.
Only very limited regulations relating to internal waters were drawn up. The Territorial Sea and Contiguous Act enables the prime minister to enact legislation but this has never been done, compromising our ability to claim liability. Dr Borg pointed out that unless the proper laws were in place the nation would end up without compensation in the event of a major incident.
“International law gives us these powers but depends on them being made law on a national level,” noted Dr Borg, adding that Italian law served as a model in this regard.
Captain Paolo Cafaro of the Italian Coastguard general command based in Rome explained how harbour masters in Italy were bound to inform the Ministry of Environment in the event of a local pollution emergency while acting promptly on agreed anti-pollution plan measures.
If it is a major incident the ministry informs the prime minister to declare a national pollution emergency. The ship involved must inform the harbour master who is responsible for ordering measures to clean up the spill, start an enquiry and recover the expenses of the operation.
Quick analysis of water samples is carried out with a mobile laboratory of the type used in the Costa Concordia emergency at Giglio island in January. Similarly, at a recent shipwreck off Syracuse, monitoring for escaped oil by satellite continued until it was certain no oil had been detected at the surface.
An oil spill prediction system to support decision-making in the Mediterranean was described by Andria Karaolia from the Oceanography Centre of the University of Cyprus. Medslik 3D used by Malta, Cyprus, Italy, Algeria and Israel can locate an oil slick at any depth. In Malta, Medslik is used by the Physical Oceanography Unit and can predict the evolution and fate and of oil spills before they reach shore, providing an essential tool to plan response and mitigation.
A range of autonomous devices such as drifters, floaters and underwater gliders, monitor sea conditions of temperature, salinity, currents and other parameters by sending data to satellites. Data gathered by Trieste’s national oceanographic institute can be used to complement other systems.
The use of remote sensing to monitor oil spills was the subject of a presentation from the University of Palermo.
Ultimately the project aims to install other radars in future to cover more of Sicily and possibly more of Malta, and to build a wider infrastructure to protect coastlines in other European countries.
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