Already in Ship Shape

Late last month, a malfunctioning valve on the barge supplying a product tanker reportedly caused it to spill between 400 and 800 gallons (between 9 and 19 barrels) of bunker fuel into San Francisco Bay. The spill reignited an environmental group’s campaign for a ban on the use of residual bunker fuel, an effort initiated following the Cosco Busan spill in 2007. The campaign aims to introduce regulation that would stop the use of the residual bunker fuel in commercial shipping altogether. While tankers have perhaps carried the bulk of the public scrutiny with respect to oil spills, in reality, the statistics speak to the tanker industry’s long-term reduction in the frequency and severity of oil spills. Download here