Evaluation of the Environmental Risk of Aframax Tankers

The European Commission funded project, Pollution Prevention and Control (POP&C), investigated historical causes and rates of Aframax tanker shipping accidents leading to oil pollution. Key results from the project included; an updated database of tanker accidents, an integrated methodology to measure the oil spill risk of tanker designs extending the existing IMO methodology, a quantitative method to evaluate structural performance in the accidental condition, risk control and pollution control options, plus the development of an ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practical) risk region for oil spills from transportation by tankers. This paper concentrates on expanding the IMO’s Formal Safety Assessment to include oil spill risks, the development of the ALARP region, identification of groundings as the highest risk accident type, and the evaluation of a current state of Aframax tanker design compared to a more risk adverse design developed using concepts and methodologies developed in the POP&C project.