Finnish air surveillance finds ten more oil spills in 2006
Observation flights by of the Finnish Guard detected 58 oil spills last year. This is ten more than in 2005. In 2004 there were a total of 36.
The Border Guard’s Dornier plane was airborne for 517 hours last year. In 2005 the total was 625.
Researcher Kati Tahvonen of the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) notes that ten of the spills were from the vessel Runner 4 which sank off the coast of Estonia.
Two other oil slicks are believed to have been caused by the Finnish tugboat Poseidon, which ran aground near Porvoo.
None of last year’s spills were big, and the total amount of oil in question was less than a year earlier.
Of the spills detected by the air surveillance, 35 were in Finnish territorial waters or the Finnish economic zone, and the rest were outside the area. The distant observation flights were a joint effort by the countries of the Baltic Sea near the coast of Sweden.
A spill near the island of Öland was from the sunken Finnbirch cargo vessel. Sweden had asked Finland to help assess the extent of the environmental damage that it caused.
The focus of the oil slick surveillance was on the Gulf of Finland and the shipping routes in it. Some spills were detected in harbours. Several oil slicks were found in the Gulf of Bothnia; in 2005 there had been only two.
In addition to aerial surveillance Finland uses satellite information to monitor its waters. Out of 60 satellite images acquired by SYKE, 34 possible oil spills were found, some of which were confirmed by air surveillance.
This year SYKE will expand its use of space technology, and order more satellite pictures than before. Also, the equipment used on the surveillance plane is to be upgraded.
Kati Tahvonen says that most of the oil spills are from illegally discharged bilge water.
The Border Guard’s Dornier plane was airborne for 517 hours last year. In 2005 the total was 625.
Researcher Kati Tahvonen of the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) notes that ten of the spills were from the vessel Runner 4 which sank off the coast of Estonia.
Two other oil slicks are believed to have been caused by the Finnish tugboat Poseidon, which ran aground near Porvoo.
None of last year’s spills were big, and the total amount of oil in question was less than a year earlier.
Of the spills detected by the air surveillance, 35 were in Finnish territorial waters or the Finnish economic zone, and the rest were outside the area. The distant observation flights were a joint effort by the countries of the Baltic Sea near the coast of Sweden.
A spill near the island of Öland was from the sunken Finnbirch cargo vessel. Sweden had asked Finland to help assess the extent of the environmental damage that it caused.
The focus of the oil slick surveillance was on the Gulf of Finland and the shipping routes in it. Some spills were detected in harbours. Several oil slicks were found in the Gulf of Bothnia; in 2005 there had been only two.
In addition to aerial surveillance Finland uses satellite information to monitor its waters. Out of 60 satellite images acquired by SYKE, 34 possible oil spills were found, some of which were confirmed by air surveillance.
This year SYKE will expand its use of space technology, and order more satellite pictures than before. Also, the equipment used on the surveillance plane is to be upgraded.
Kati Tahvonen says that most of the oil spills are from illegally discharged bilge water.
