Since 1989, Vietnam's waters have had about 100 oil spills due to ship accidents, all of which have dumped hundreds of tons of oil into the sea.
Vietnam's waters are open seas connecting the Pacific and Indian oceans, and is one of the maritime axes with a huge traffic volume, of which 70% are oil tankers.
Although it has not been classified as a sea with a serious pollution level, it is also warned that there is a high risk of pollution in the future, because industry is developing strongly in coastal areas, plus exploration and mining activities. Oil and gas exploitation and transportation in the region is increasing, while this is an area where dangerous natural disasters occur frequently at sea.
According to the assessment of the Institute of Marine Science and Environmental Resources - Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology: Since 1989, Vietnam's seas have had about 100 oil spills due to ship accidents. poured into the sea from a few dozen to hundreds of tons of oil. Oil spills usually occur in March and April every year in the Central region; from May to June in the North.
Statistics show that, in the period from 1992-2008, the amount of oil spilled in the sea of Vietnam came from many different causes. Specifically, oil spills with a volume of 7-700 tons are often concentrated mainly due to ships running aground. And oil spills with a quantity greater than 700 tons are mainly caused by oil transportation and ship collisions at sea.
Oil spills pollute the marine environment, seriously affecting ecosystems. Especially the ecosystems of mangroves, seagrasses, tidal flats, lagoons and coral reefs. Oil pollution reduces the resilience, flexibility and resilience of ecosystems. The oil content in the water increases, the oil films reduce the ability to exchange oxygen between the air and water, reduce the oxygen in the water, and upset the balance of oxygen regulation in the ecosystem.
In addition, oil spills contain toxins that damage ecosystems, which can cause ecosystem destruction. Because the oil contains many different components, it changes and destroys the organism's cell structure, sometimes causing the death of the whole population. Oil seeping into sand and mud at the coast can affect for a very long time. There have been many cases of species dying due to the impact of oil spills.
It is also alarming that the oil spread on the sea and washed ashore for a long time is not collected, which will reduce the number of organisms, causing damage to the fishing and aquaculture industry. Oil pollutes the water environment causing mass fish deaths due to lack of dissolved oxygen. Oil clings to the soil, rock embankments, and island banks, causing loss of beauty and unpleasant odors, leading to heavy losses in the revenue of the tourism industry. Oil spills also affect the operation of fishing ports, shipbuilding and repair facilities. Due to floating oil damage machinery and equipment for resource extraction and water transportation.
Through the survey at Lach Bang fishing port, Tinh Gia district, Thanh Hoa province, which is often the anchorage of thousands of fishing vessels from many different regions and regions. The water pollution here is caused by the oil residue of the "carefree" ships discharging into a large area.
If 10 years ago this estuary area was home to a very rich mangrove ecosystem, now almost the entire area of mangroves due to oil contamination is slowly dying away, leading to animals and plants. brackish water animals are almost extinct. There was also a continuous oil pollution incident that caused hundreds of hectares of aquaculture to be lost, so many households were forced to quit their jobs.
Therefore, the oil spill environmental incident can be considered as one of the types of incidents causing the greatest economic loss, among the types of human-caused environmental incidents. Currently, locating the oil spill and overcoming this incident in Vietnam is still limited, both in terms of the legal basis and specialized equipment and technical means to overcome oil spill pollution.