Members Handbook 2002 - Centre d'Investigació i ...

improve safety and pollution prevention.The total amount of oil spilled each yearvaries considerably, with a few very largespills being responsible for a highpercentage of the total annual quantity.Causes of SpillsMost incidents are the result of acombination of actions andcircumstances, all of which contribute invarying degrees to the final outcome.Some 34% of spills in the category 7-700tonnes occurred during routineoperations, most especially loading ordischarging (27%). Typically theseoperational spills were small. Accidentswere the overwhelming cause of largespills (>700 tonnes), with groundingsand collisions accounting for 62% of thetotal during the period 1974-2004.Other significant causes included hullfailures and fire/explosion.Causes of intermediate spills (7-700 tonnes), 1974-200410Causes of large spills (>700 tonnes), 1974-2004