Second Largest Norwegian Oil Spill

Published Dec 20, 2007 12:01 AM by The Maritime Executive

About 25,000 barrels (5,000 metric tons) of crude were discharged into the North Sea on Wednesday, December 12. The spill occurred while a shuttle tanker, the Navion Britannia, was taking on oil from a loading buoy in the Statfjord offshore oil field in Norway during bad weather. The spill is one of the largest in Norwegian history; second only to a 1977 oil platform blowout, which spilled about 75,000 barrels of crude into the ocean.

Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) established an emergency response center soon after the incident. However, later the same day, the PSA "demobilised the emergency response centre established after the Statfjord A oil spill, but will continue to follow up the incident with operator StatoilHydro," according to a December 12 press statement. The press release went on to state that "StatoilHydro is responsible for the clean-up operation after the spill, under the supervision of the Norwegian Coast Directorate."

StatoilHydro has been involved with the cleanup from the start. Helge Lund, CEO of StatoilHydro, said on December 13, "Our first priority is to do everything we can to minimise the environmental impact." According to company press statements, four oil spill collection vessels were deployed to aid in the cleanup effort, but the "near gale conditions in the area" prohibited the deployment of any collection equipment until the morning of Friday, December 14. When the vessels were finally able to observe the oil slick firsthand, it was discovered that the oil was too "thinly spread" for it to be "appropriate to keep the booms deployed." However, a December 14 StatoilHydro press release stated, "A close eye will be kept on the position in the time to come, and StatoilHydro will maintain its emergency response over the weekend."

Marius Holm Vice President of the environmental group Bellona, criticized the authorities and the operator for their response to the effort: "We are relying on the weather gods in this case -- nothing is certain and experts say that the risk of the oil coming toward the coast is still there." Nevertheless, as the latest StatoilHydro press statement from Monday, December 17, reported that observation flights found no oil on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday in the area, it appears that the weather working in the oil company's and Norway's favor.

The press release states, "The plane observations are supported by satellite monitoring, as well as observations from other vessels in the area." Regardless, "The area is still being surveyed by satellite and aircraft, in addition to visual observations from helicopters and boats. There are also three oil pollution response vessels with tugs in the area which can respond and assist at short notice. A reduction in the level of activity will be considered if no new observations are made."

On the day of the spill, the PSA began a joint inquiry into the accident, with the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) and The Norwegian Coastal Administration. The inquiry will:

clarify the scope, development and potential of the incident, assess its direct and underlying causes, and identify follow-up measures

assess operational, technical and management conditions relating to the incident

identify any breaches of the regulations, recommend further follow-up and identify possible regulatory responses.

StatoilHydro is also very interested in discovering what went wrong. Lund stated last Thursday, "We have initiated an internal inquiry aimed at clarifying the course of events and the causes. We will be working closely with the authorities to find the cause of this incident." Early investigations of the loading buoy and hose discovered "a break in the 19-inch flexible hose between the seabed and the tanker connection."

For the latest news on the spill, see StatoilHydro's Web site: http://www.statoilhydro.com/.

**Photo: Oil boom in use 14 December (Photo: Marit Hommedal, StatoilHydro)