Goa has to live with tar balls on beaches

By GLENN COSTA
Posted on 2008-08-13
PANAJI - Looks like tar balls, a annual blot on Goa’s pearly white and much frequented coastline, are here to stay with experts saying that these tar balls will increase with time.
The tar balls we see on the shores today are a result of the accumulated oil collected over a period of time let out on routine trips by thousands of ships as they travel to and from the country’s various ports.
Drips of oil can occur anywhere in the ocean. But these drips are pushed to the shore by wind and current.
This phenomenon will not decrease but only increase. What we see is oil accumulated over the years,” states a NIO scientist, Dr Albert Gouveia adding that today the incidents are less as controls have increased dramatically.
This phenomenon was noticed in the 1980s.
Dr Gouveia says that such oil spills could be Due to accidents, bilge water and from ballast tanks, which are used to stabilise an empty ship. And then these tanks are emptied of ballast. It can create a problem especially when tanks filled with oil and then empty it later on.
Washing of tanks is not permitted at ports and there are provisions made at almost every port where the sludge from ships can be discharged.
But they are allowed to offload their ballast in the high seas but today ballast too is being monitored and ships have to follow certain norms while offloading the ballast. Where the ballast is being dropped can be checked and in today’s world one can make out if norms are being followed.
Today with the available resources finger printing is possible. It may not be easy but it can be done,” says Dr Gouveia.
He, however, argues that this oil can only be removed by mechanical means once it comes to shore.
The Coast Guard is the authority that enforces the law for any such illegalities to combat oil pollution and keeps an eye with regular patrols and air patrolling. But these minor infractions are possible as expanse of waters to man is vast -- the area for the Coast Guard to patrol is from outside the port limits, or five nautical miles, to the deep sea.
The Coast Guard uses the Pollution Act to book infractions.
The DIG of the Coast Guard, Mr M S Dangi told ‘The Navhind Times’ that, “As far as the Coast Guard is concerned there is regular patrolling buy our ships as well as aircraft and if we see any ship intentionally throwing out oil then we book it, ” but admitted that the Coast Guard had not booked any ship in the recent past.
Agreeing with Dr Gouveia that mechanical means are the way to deal with these tar balls, Mr Dangi said, “If we have any doubts we board and check ships. If a ship is within our territorial waters (12 nautical miles) we take action, and if it’s in international waters then we warn it and then take follow-up action, if needed,”
He said that there are a large number of ships travelling on the ocean and every small amount gets accumulated and during the monsoon as waves get turbulent the bottom of the sea gets disturbed and whatever had settled on the sea bottom gets disturbed and washed to shore.