In the 1980s, oil drilling platforms were fitted out with top lights before they were placed in the North Sea. These lights were a useful navigation aid and fishing boats used to set their automatic pilots by them. Those days are gone, but that does not mean there is less chance of an accident happening.
With 600 oil platforms and busy shipping routes, the North Sea is still a risky environment, although the Wild West scenarios of the 1970s and 1980s are a thing of the past. Safety procedures have been tightened, especially after the 1988 Piper Alpha oil platform disaster, in which 167 people died.
Drunk captain
As only natural gas is extracted off the Dutch coast, disaster teams are more likely to be clearing up after an oil tanker accident than one involving a drilling platform: scores of oil tankers sail in and out of the port of Rotterdam daily. You don’t need a drunken captain or a dilapidated ship to cause a disaster: a simple collision will suffice. Indeed, sweeping arms to clear an oil spill lie at–the-ready on shore.
Nevertheless, dealing with disasters is a matter of improvisation, says Ben Ale, professor of Safety and Disaster Contingency at Delft University of Technology. Every disaster is different.
"Where the oil hits land depends on where the accident happened in the North Sea. That's because of the Gulf Stream. For instance, the oil from a disaster off the Dutch coast could end up in the Wadden Sea, north of the Netherlands, but it could also find its way to Norway. There is almost no point in planning a detailed response. It is better to have procedures which enable people to contact one another and, if need be, to inform each other on developments and offer support."
Independent inspections
Boris van der Ham, an MP from the Dutch D66 democrat party, has asked questions in parliament about the safety of oil platforms in the North Sea, following the drama in the Gulf of Mexico. He is calling for an independent international inspection organisation. At present, the responsibility lies with the individual coastal states and the oil companies.
Boris van der Ham, an MP from the Dutch D66 democrat party, has asked questions in parliament about the safety of oil platforms in the North Sea, following the drama in the Gulf of Mexico. He is calling for an independent international inspection organisation. At present, the responsibility lies with the individual coastal states and the oil companies.
"Of course, they hold initial responsibility to make sure things go well, but it is also important that they are backed up by government regulations and inspections. You can see that there is a lot of competition and there are big risks, because these are natural processes. So it is very important that we exchange as much knowledge as possible with other countries and that we make sure any negligence is immediately seen by an independent organisation and put right straight away."
Wake-up call
For oil companies, this is a wake-up call. The possibility of extracting fossil fuels from hard-to-reach and environmentally risky areas, like the Arctic or the deep sea, is now further away than ever, not least because US President Barack Obama has announced a ban on drilling until 2011.
For oil companies, this is a wake-up call. The possibility of extracting fossil fuels from hard-to-reach and environmentally risky areas, like the Arctic or the deep sea, is now further away than ever, not least because US President Barack Obama has announced a ban on drilling until 2011.
The idea that safety regulations can be ignored now and then, is now a thing of the past, thinks Professor Ale. Just like people who check their oil more frequently after their neighbour’s car has broken down, oil companies will have to take another look at their safety standards.
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June 4 2010
1. I don't think that dealing with disasters is a matter of improvisation, says Ben Ale, every disaster has one thing in comom excess of confidence and lack of trainnig a solder must trainning in schedule not a day before the war explode.
2.independent international inspection organisation will not solve any, and clear example is Human Rights Council ; today more violation that any to justify its existence; what an III.org will do is rise the price more.
3 I think Professor Ale. Forgot the nature of the human being; here and there " what matter is cash"
4. Solution Solar, wind energy and Nuclear, and help the undevelop nation as soon as posible to abandom fossil energy.
Inaccuracy of the article: There is oil produced off the Dutch continental shelf.
The crude oil is easily seen. The real problem are the millions of tons of pollutants dumped in the atmosphere every year by all of us, directly or indirectly. As guilty is BP as anyone who drives a car or uses electricity from power plants that burn oil or carbon.
Some day, in the future, our children will only see darkened skies everywhere and the blue planet will only exist in pictures taken by their grand parents.
An oil disaster could happen off any coast where oil could be found.Why not use alcohol , methanol,ethanol, hydrogen, electricity and solar panels to drive cars and generate energy?
How many more deadly accidents have to happen before this nonsense comes to a complete halt? Were it not for the strong-arm behaviour of oil companies, alternate sources of energy would already be developed. The technology has been there for a long time - and the oil companies have done everything possible to impede this for the same long time.
Humanity does not need any energy except the stones that we had been using for hundreds of thousands of years. Only when humanity gets back to reality will this nonsense come to a complete halt.
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