Abstract:

Spills of petroleum oil always create severe negative effects on the environment, such as smothering and poisoning flora and fauna. Minimizing the risk of oil spills and their negative impacts is a priority under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and especially SDG 14, concerning the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources. It is also a self-explanatory fact that in order to deal effectively with oil spill incidents, close and effective international cooperation -especially between neighboring countries that usually “share the burden” of oil pollution- is a vital necessity. On this basis, the South Baltic Oil (SBOIL) project aims to strengthen the existing oil spill response capacities in the South Baltic region, introducing a cross-border spill response tool based on the new “green technology” of biodegradable oil binders (BioBinders). Within the framework of that project, a Table Top Training Activity was conducted by the World Maritime University (WMU), along with the help of Oil Spill Response Ltd. (OSRL). The specific event was based on a realistic oil spill scenario taking place in the region under discussion and the main aim was to test the preparedness and implementation of the BioBinders as a response option to support the existing oil spill response capacities. The overall impression of the participants was that the specific exercise served well the intended purpose and that the use BioBinders is a rather promising concept. On the other hand, there was a consensus that the use of these biodegradable wood-based oil binders on the field is for the time being associated with challenges difficult to overcome, with the quantity and time needed to deploy the required amount of binders to successfully absorb a large volume of oil standing out.

Keywords:

South Baltic region, SDG 14, oil spills, biodegradable oil binders.