Assessing response capabilities for responding to ship-related oil spills in the Chinese Bohai Sea

Various oil spill response facilities and their quantities for twelve major harbors, which are responsible for eight response zones in the Bohai Sea, were investigated using a questionnaire. Four maps were produced to show the actual distribution of response capabilities including the efficiency of oil skimmers, quantity of booms, sorbent materials and vessels. The expected response capabilities for skimmers and booms were calculated and compared with the reality. For skimmers responding to potential spill accidents, there was a large gap between the existing response capability and the expected response capability in most response zones. An increase in the quantity of oil skimmers is therefore recommended to mitigate the harmful effects of future large oil spills caused by potential ship grounding accidents in Response Zones 1, 2, 4 and 5. For booms, Response Zone 1 was found to be the least sufficient, whereas Response Zones 3 and 6 were overprepared.