Research Paper on Maritime Technology and Environmental Regulations
1-0: Introduction
Two vessels collided on august 1990 near Gibraltar in Spain resulting in a sea disaster and oil spill. Sea Spirit along with the Norwegian gas tanker collided head on causing a spill of about 8000Tons of oil. Oil contamination in the marine spread far, even reaching the Moroccan coast in form of cakes, tar balls, and oil packs. Similar to this disaster is the major oil spill that occurred on July in 1979 near Trinidad and Tobago caused by the Atlantic Empress. The spill allegedly resulted in the largest oil spill of 287,000Metric tons of oil ever to be recorded. The disaster was never totally remedied since during pull away from the scene, the tanker continued to spill an additional substantial amount of oil. Conversely, the Aegean Captain also leaked large amount of oil. Some moments later on, Atlantic Empress sank deeply with its cargo remaining solidified. However, the spill from the two ships never reached the shores of the ocean. 2-0: Similarities
2-1: Similarities in environmental effects
In terms of ecological contamination, Both Sea Spirit and Atlantic Empress caused major impacts on sea animal and plant life. Sea birds became highly affected dipping the insulating capacity among such animals. Birds became highly vulnerable to temperature changes and less buoyant in water. The two oil spills contributed to huge impairments and disabilities related to flight in aquatic birds (Horn and Neal 2006, para 3). In fact, species found it hard to escape from predators. Research shows that the spillage especially from the Atlantic Empress led to the ingestion of oil by birds and covering on their feathers. This caused kidney damage, digestive system problems, as well as liver functionality among the victimized animals. The two disasters also attracted scientists who wanted to