Crude awakening: Why Kenya can’t handle sea oil spills

Rarely are the high seas a source of news save for what has lately become a frequent catalogue of attacks on ships by marauding fortune-seeking pirates off the Coast of Somalia.

So when the MT “Voge Trust”, an oil tanker carrying 35,000 tonnes of diesel careened dizzily as it entered the port of Mombasa at the Likoni Channel, it hardly attracted the national attention it deserved.

Listing dangerously, the ship threatened to spill its contents onto the sea in what would have caused an immediate ecological disaster that would have polluted the beaches, damaged the marine ecosystems and slowed down work at the port.

Though swift action by the Kenya Navy and the ports authority prevented the vessel from sinking, the incident spotlighted Kenya’s unpreparedness in the event of an oil spill and evoked memories of a similar occurrence nearly four years ago in which an Indian oil tanker — MT Ratna Shalini— spilled oil which spread to the shoreline causing environmental and property damage.

A disaster was however averted by pollution control experts from the Kenya Maritime Authority, the port, the oil spill Mutual Aid Group and Kenya Navy personnel who contained the spill, which still spread to the coastline, about five kilometres away from the port.

Maritime experts say a large oil spill in Mombasa would have a far-reaching impact on the region’s petroleum supply security in addition to polluting beaches and hurting the tourism sector.

Kenya and her landlocked neighbours required an estimated five million tonnes of various fuel products each year — half of which are imported as crude for refining at the Changamwe Refinery.

No assessment has been carried out on the damage to property and the environment or loss of income to fishing communities since the spill occurred in 2005, according to Mr Andrew Mwangura of the Seafarers Assistance Programme.

Kenya is one of the 86 member states of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPCF) but owing to the outdated maritime laws of Kenya, the vessel owners were only required to pay the government $1 million— a meagre amount when compared to the colossal damage caused by the spill.

The vessel was a 1987 single hull-tanker that was due to be phased out in August this year as per International Maritime organisation (IMO) requirements.

Mr Mwangura said the spillage came sooner after a new IMO regulation banning the carrying of heavy grade oil in single-hull tankers came into force in 2005.

The requirement is designed to reduce the risk of spills from oil tankers involved in low-energy collisions or groundings.  

Maritime experts say the coastal waters of many African countries have some of the world’s richest ecosystems, characterised by coral reefs, sea grass meadows, mangrove forests, estuaries and flood plain swamps, which are not only an important source of essential products including foods, medicine, raw materials and recreational facilities, but also provide ecological services that directly benefit the coastal zone.

KPA officials said the ship tilted because it carried more weight on one side and that the mechanism for pumping out the water had broken down.

The Kenya Ports Authority acting harbour master, Captain Ali Banafa, termed Thursday’s incident unusual since the oil tanker was newly-built by maritime standards.

“It appears the problem was internal due to movement of internal cargo, “he added.

“The cause of the list was established as arising from internal operations which was successfully corrected. The vessel stabilised and subsequently proceeded to dock where she discharged her cargo (oil),” said the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) director general, Ms Nancy Karigithu.

Industry experts, however, say Kenya is poorly equipped to handle a spill involving 80,000 tonnes, the normal capacity of vessels that bring crude into Mombasa.

“Perhaps the most underestimated potential disaster involves crude oil tankers sailing into the busy Kilindini Harbor, Mombasa,” said Mr George Wachira, an industry consultant, adding that he doubted the capacity of Mombasa port to clean up after a spill without external help.

“Only a handful of crude oil importers in Kenya have access to the external back up, which is a very scaring scenario to imagine,” he says and calls for a “full scale risk assessment” of the entire petroleum infrastructure and supply chain to map out potential disaster areas.

Players in the petroleum sector should urgently come up with a sector emergency preparedness and response plan as must other sectors of the economy, he says.

Such combined emergency efforts could then be coordinated through the proposed National Disaster Management Authority.

Mid this year, President Kibaki assented to the Merchant Shipping Act — raising hopes for an avenue to create the necessary legal framework to ensure a marine oil spill preparedness and response capacity.

A total of Sh30 million was allocated to the training of Kenyan Seafarers to prepare Kenya for inclusion in the IMO white list —a register of countries entitles to particular privileges, services, mobility, access and recognition in maritime operations.

Response plan

A year ago, the KMA, through an IMO advisory team, developed regulations to speed up the domestication of international conventions that Kenya has ratified, in readiness for stakeholder discussions and input early next year, and which could lead to a national oil spill response contingency plan.

Oil marketing companies say they have already gone out of their way to combat and manage emergencies involving oil spills, fires as well as collection and safe disposal of hazardous waste.

Ms Wanjiku Manyara, the chief executive of the Petroleum Institute for East Africa (PIEA)- the marketers lobby, says they have established an Oil Spill Mutual Aid Group (OSMAG) to facilitate mutual pooling of resources and expertise to handle possible vessel disasters.

“International oil companies have stand-by international contingency backup for major spills,” she said, adding that oil companies that import over 150,000 tonnes of oil annually must pay an insurance premium to the IOPC Fund in order for Kenya to maintain its insurance cover against oil spills under international conventions.