Energy Transportation and Tanker Safety in Canada

Energy Transportation and Tanker Safety in Canada
Type:	Research Studies
Date Published:	January 15, 2015
Authors:	Philip John
Research Topics:	Environment, Energy
World energy demand is booming and this growth is projected to continue for several decades. Liquid fossil fuels will continue to be a primary component of global energy supply. Meanwhile, opposition to the most logical method for getting fossil fuels to markets in Asia and Europe continues to grow. Pipelines have been facing opposition for years; now activist groups want to block the development of Canada’s oil sands by restricting the ocean transport of these fuels. This review of tanker safety in Canada and abroad shows that tankers are very reliable and are an increasingly safe way to transport oil. Despite tens of thousands of transits on the East and West Coasts, the only major oil spill in the last 20 years on Canada’s West Coast occurred in 2006 when the BC ferry Queen of the North sank with 240 tonnes of oil on board. (In comparison, the Exxon Valdez spilled approximately 40,000 tonnes of oil in 1989 in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.) The most significant oil spill off Canada’s East Coast occurred in 1970, when the tanker Arrow spilled over 10,000 tonnes of oil off Nova Scotia, about one quarter of the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez. Canadian shipping accidents reached a 38-year low of 236 in 2012, a 30% decrease from the 2007–2011 average of 337. There has also been a precipitous drop globally in oil spilled since the 1970s. All of this is in the face of increased quantities of goods being shipped: the global seaborne oil tanker trade nearly doubled over the last 30 years. Marine transportation is a crucial and irreplaceable conveyor of fuels to domestic and international markets. Measures to prevent and mitigate accidents and spills will be necessary as long as oil is moved by water. But such measures are far from the bans and restrictions being proposed for tanker traffic off Canada’s coasts. Tanker traffic on Canada’s coasts, especially on the West Coast, should be facilitated—not banned—for national economic progress, sustainable development, and judicious long-term planning in the interest of Canadians.
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