A Bayesian Network risk model for assessing oil spill recovery effectiveness in the ice-covered Northern Baltic Sea.

The Northern Baltic Sea, as one of the few areas with busy ship traffic in ice-covered waters, is a typical sea area exposed to risk of ship accidents and oil spills in ice conditions. Therefore, oil spill capability for response and recovery in this area is required to reduce potential oil spill effects. Currently, there are no integrated, scenario-based models for oil spill response and recovery in ice conditions.

Purity and mechanical strength of naturally frozen ice in wastewater basins.

A fairly clean ice cover can form over a contaminated water pond when the air-cooled surface of water freezes and impurities are efficiently expelled to the remaining water underneath. Natural freeze crystallization has recently been studied as a potential wastewater purification method with aqueous solutions on a laboratory scale. The effect of impurity inclusions on ice strength has been researched in model ice basins over the past few decades.

Risk management model of winter navigation operations.

The wintertime maritime traffic operations in the Gulf of Finland are managed through the Finnish-Swedish Winter Navigation System. This establishes the requirements and limitations for the vessels navigating when ice covers this area. During winter navigation in the Gulf of Finland, the largest risk stems from accidental ship collisions which may also trigger oil spills.

A risk analysis of winter navigation in Finnish sea areas.

Winter navigation is a complex but common operation in north-European sea areas. In Finnish waters, the smooth flow of maritime traffic and safety of vessel navigation during the winter period are managed through the Finnish-Swedish winter navigation system (FSWNS). This article focuses on accident risks in winter navigation operations, beginning with a brief outline of the FSWNS.

A probabilistic model estimating oil spill clean-up costs--a case study for the Gulf of Finland.

Existing models estimating oil spill costs at sea are based on data from the past, and they usually lack a systematic approach. This make them passive, and limits their ability to forecast the effect of the changes in the oil combating fleet or location of a spill on the oil spill costs. In this paper we make an attempt towards the development of a probabilistic and systematic model estimating the costs of clean-up operations for the Gulf of Finland.