Documents & Guides

Explore a variety of topics about marine spills, response and compensation matters in the pages below.

Each topic and area of interest provides access to more detailed documentation that is freely downloadable.

This includes our 18 Technical Information Papers which are fully illustrated with photos and diagrams and are available in several languages. 


Compensation for Ship-source Marine Oil Spills

What legal arrangements and sources of compensation are available for a spill from a ship?

Disposal

What planning and waste management systems need to be put in place to reduce the volume of oily waste for treatment or disposal?

Environmental Effects

How does oil impact seabirds, plankton, sea mammals and the shoreline?  

HNS

What are the specific chemical response strategies for responding to a Hazardous and Noxious Substance spill, and what are the potential effects on human and marine life? 

Contingency & Response Planning

What information is needed for an effective oil spill contingency plan? How can aerial observation and protective strategies assist with response operations? 

Economic Effects

Which industries might suffer temporary economic losses and loss of market confidence?

Fate of Oil Spills

What happens to oil in the marine environment over time when spilled at sea? How do different factors such as volume and physical and chemical properties affect the fate of oil spills? 

Response Techniques

What techniques are available for cleaning up oil at sea and on the shoreline?


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Oil Tanker Spill Statistics

Oil Tanker Spill Statistics

An annual publication providing data on accidental oil spills from tankers, combined carriers and barges since 1970, derived from ITOPF's database. Published each January.

Categories: Information Services, Company literature, Publications

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Marine HNS Response Manual

Marine HNS Response Manual

The Project to create the Marine HNS Response Manual was implemented through an inter-regional effort, including the participation of the Western Mediterranean Region Marine Oil and HNS Pollution Cooperation (West MOPoCo), the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC), the Bonn Agreement for the Greater North Sea and its approaches and the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) for the Baltic Sea. The project benefits from the technical support and expertise of expert partner institutions such as Cedre, ISPRA and ITOPF.

Categories: HNS, Papers

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Technical Services Brochure 2023

ITOPF Technical Services Brochure

An introduction to ITOPF and the services we provide, published in 2023.

Category: Company literature

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ITOPF Handbook

ITOPF Handbook

First produced in 1997, the ITOPF Handbook contains a wealth of valuable information and guidance for those likely to be involved in spills of oil and chemicals from ships

Category: Company literature

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Ocean Orbit 2022

Ocean Orbit

An occasional newsletter launched in 1992, which reports on ITOPF activities and spill related issues.

Category: Company literature

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Spill response during the Covid-19 pandemic (2022) - extended abstract

Spill response during the Covid-19 pandemic (2022) - extended abstract

Responding to a spill under COVID-19 conditions brought unparalleled challenges in all aspects of launching an effective spill response. This paper discusses the experiences and issues from a personal perspective and what lessons were learned.

Categories: Planning & operations, Papers

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Is greener cleaner? Spill implications from alternative marine fuels (2022) - extended abstract

Is greener cleaner? Spill implications from alternative marine fuels (2022) - extended abstract

With the eyes of the world on reducing human reliance on fossil fuels, the shipping industry is undergoing the largest fuel revolution since the obsolescence of steam-powered vessels in the 1950s. With more vessels expected to run on alternative fuels, it is a matter of time until an incident involving these emerging fuel types occurs.

Categories: Response Techniques, Papers

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Spatio-temporal analysis of global marine oil tanker spills over half a century (2020)

Spatio-temporal analysis of global marine oil tanker spills over half a century (2020)

This paper provides a global overview of the spatial distribution of accidental marine oil tanker spills of size 7 tonnes and over, based on ITOPF’s spills database, and explores spatio-temporal patterns over 50 years using GIS.

Category: Papers

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Annual Review

Annual Review

A review of ITOPF's activities during the past twelve months, including the Directors' Report and Accounts.

Category: Company literature

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Nurdles - one container, a billion problems (2022) - extended abstract

Nurdles - one container, a billion problems (2022) - extended abstract

To supply the global demand for plastic, significant quantities of pre-production plastic pellets are transported by sea in containers. Plastic pellets, or nurdles, are lentil-sized (typically < 5mm) pre-production raw materials used to fashion almost all day-to-day plastic items. Recent analysis estimates estimated around 230,000 tonnes of nurdles are lost to the environment annually.

Categories: Response Techniques, Planning & operations, Papers

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