These data reflect the positive results of government and sector work to improve safety and standards in the operations of oil vessels

The International Anti-Pollution Federation of the Tank Shipowners (ITOPF) has just published its statistical data on the accidental oil spills in 2019, in which only three incidents were recorded: 2 of them between 7 and 700 tons and a third of more than 700 tons, which occurred last May following an approach in American waters. The other two were the result of a partial approach and sinking in South-East Asia.

This record, of only 3 discharges of 7 t or more, is the lowest recorded in a specific year in the last 5 decades. The total estimated amount of oil dumped to sea in 2019 was about 1,000 tonnes.

In recent decades, the incidence of accidental oil spills from oil tankers has decreased dramatically. The number of spills of 7 t or more in the 1970s was on average 79 per year. Since 2010, this figure has been reduced by more than 90 per cent to a historical minimum of 6 incidents per year.

Similarly, there has been a significant reduction in the amount of oil dumped over the decades. The total amount spilled per decade has been reduced by 95% since the 1970s. The spill of 113,000 tonnes produced in early 2018 by the ship Sanchi was the largest in 16 years, since the accident of the Prestige. Excluding this case, the average oil spilled between 2010 and 2019 was 5,200 t / year. In 2019, as is said, only about 1,000 tons were sold.

ITOPF was created in 1968 to promote an effective response to oil, chemical and other discharges into the marine environment. It is financed by tankers from around the world and their insurance companies... ITOPF currently consists of about 8,000 shipowners and flyers, which manage a total fleet of 13,600 tankers worldwide with a total gross tonnage of more than 430 million GT.