An oil spill in the busy channel between Malta and Sicily would linger and have a high probability of hitting one of the two islands, according to simulations being developed by university experts.
Oceanographer Aldo Drago told Times of Malta that the strong anti-clockwise current meant the slick would not float away.
Instead, it would remain fairly static, moving only in a circular motion until it hit one of the two islands.
“We have this perception that what we throw in the sea floats away, and this is true. However, out in the channel this very strong current would force a spill to circulate,” he said.
We have this perception that what we throw in the sea floats away
Once close to the shoreline, oil spills normally travel along the coastal periphery, rarely entering the shallow waters.
Prof. Drago, however, said the strong anti-clockwise current in the popular shipping lane would increase the likelihood of the spill hugging the shore. This, he said, could have devastating effects on the island.
Prof. Drago was contacted for his reaction to an Auditor General’s report into the state of the island’s oil spill reaction services.
Tabled in Parliament on Monday, the report found that a spill along the Maltese shoreline would have an almost instant impact on the island’s water production by crippling most reverse osmosis operations.
The island’s power generation capabilities would also be at risk, as the Delimara power station uses sea water to cool its machinery.
Asked what the worst case scenario for a spill would be, Prof. Drago said the extent of the damage depended on a number of factors.
These ranged from the size of the spill to the strength of currents and wind direction.
The worst damage to Malta, however, would be caused by a spill to the northwest of the island. This, Prof. Drago said, would ride the channel current until it was dragged along the island’s northern shoreline.
This seems to tally with the findings of the Auditor General’s report, which had highlighted the stretch of coast from Marsalforn to Sliema as the most at risk.
The northwest region of the Malta-Sicily channel is one of the busiest sections of the shipping highway. It is also home to a number of oil bunkering terminals. Some 5,500 tons of oil were spilt in the central Mediterranean between 2000 and 2009, adding up to more than 200 spills per year.
The Auditor General also raised concerns about the state of the government’s spill cleaning equipment. The detailed report revealed how expired chemicals, originally meant to mop up spills, had been stored for 12 years raking up nearly €120,000 in “avoidable” warehousing fees. Other inadequacies included valuable equipment that had been exposed to “weather and rodents”, and response vessels which had undergone costly repairs prior to being decommissioned.
Marine biologist Alan Deidun said the financial investment to counter an oil spill did not match the strides being made by academics.
“We have come a long way in recent years to be able to better combat these spills. Unfortunately, investment in equipment, or even more basic things like storage, has not equalled the efforts being made by academics,” he said.
Dr Deidun forms part of a team headed by Prof. Drago which provides the government with simulations aimed at predicting the impact of possible spills.
This, he said, would only be useful if the necessary tools were in place to help mitigate the impact of such a disaster.
The Auditor General’s inquiries had found that in total, more than 70 per cent of the equipment used to combat oil spills was beyond repair, while restoring the remaining equipment would cost in excess of €110,000.