A case study on oil pollution in Istanbul Strait: Revisiting 1994 Nassia tanker accident by utilising Potential Incident Simulation Control and Evaluation System (PISCES-II) simulation. What would be different in terms of response if Nassia accident happened today?

Abstract

Turkey, with her two important straits, is geographically in the middle of one of the major transportation routes and will continue to face risks the oil tankers pose in those sensitive areas. This paper revisits the site of an oil tanker accident that occurred at the northern entrance of the Istanbul Strait in 1994. The aim of the study was to simulate the same accident in PISCES-II Simulator to compare the response actions of the time with the present capabilities. Effort is also made to understand how the negative impacts of an oil spill accident can be lessened. Therefore, the study is planned to set to cover two separate response scenarios for the identical oil spill incident, actually simulating the 1994 M/T Nassica accident. The results showed that oil pollution response in places with strong currents like Istanbul Strait needs special care to sea conditions as well as related assets.