Is tanker safety heading off course?

摘要

A trawl through tanker accident statistics suggests a sector that has learnt from past problems and is steadily improving its safety record. In 2000-09, oil spills of more than 700 tonnes averaged 3.5 per year, or just one seventh of the rate during the 1970s, according to International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation figures. The yearly average has since slumped further to two. Medium-sized spills of less than 700 tonnes show a similarly reassuring decline, down from an annual average of 53.4 in the 1970s to just 14.7 for the 2000s. This trend has been linked to better training standards and tighter legislation, such as MARPOL 73/78 amendments to speed up the replacement of single-hulled oil tankers by double-hulled vessels.