Vietnam: Oil pollution damaging sea environment

VietNamNet Bridge 17 Feb 15;

The sea near Vietnam has been seriously damaged by waste from industrial and agricultural production, aquaculture, domestic rubbish, and oil pollution caused by shipbuilding and shipping.

Scientists recently warned that oil pollution is becoming more and more serious. In theory, the 0.1 mg per liter concentration is large enough to kill plankton species and affect larvae of benthic organisms.

Meanwhile, in the Hai Phong coastal areas, the oil concentration in water often exceeds the permitted level by 100-300 percent.

The latest report of the Hai Phong City Department of Natural Resources and the Environment showed that the Hai Phong Seaport usually has oil concentration of 0.3-0.6 mg per liter. The same concentration level has been found in the coastal area in the districts of Hai An and Kien Thuy.

An environmental expert noted that the high concentration of oil in water are in areas where there are a majority of fishing boats, cruises and military ships to gather for cleaning and discharging oil. The waste from the process and the oil are directly discharged into the sea.

Meanwhile, under the Marpol Convention, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships, all the ships are prohibited from discharging waste water into the seaports’ waters.

Experts pointed out that the 4 million tons of fuel consumed every year by 1,700 transport ships and 130,000 fishing boats is a major source of pollutants affected coastal areas and the sea, damaging the sea ecosystem and sea resources, and harming people’s health.

Binh Dinh province, in the central region of Vietnam, with a focus on developing a sea-borne economy, has 7,000 boats and ships, including 2,500 ships for offshore fishing.

The local authorities plan to help fishermen in 28 coastal localities to modernize their fleet to help them improve tuna fishing capacity.

However, there has been no information about the use of new shipbuilding technology that meets new green maritime standards.

Scientists say that with current shipbuilding technology, which requires much fuel, the volume of waste oil is huge. The waste changes the physicochemical characteristics of the sea water, thus affecting aquatic creatures, harming salt production, aquaculture and sea tourism.

Reducing and controlling noxious emissions to restrict the influence on ocean acidification is now a burning issue all over the globe.

Recent reports showed that the warming of the globe is leading to heavy rain, ocean acidification and rising sea water levels.

Chi Mai