Philippine Merchant Marine School (PMMS)
San Antonio Valley Road Talon Uno Las Pias
Awareness and Concerns of PMMS Students About the
Impact of Shipping Operations and Human Activities on Marine
Environment
Presented to
Engineer Clarence Rafael
By
Tejedo, Khim
Roda, Kenneth
Bacas, John Arjo
Herna, Jimireigh
Dumol, Her Cloyd
Alorro, Rodfill John
Baranda, John Paul
Dela Cruz, Ray Jason
Castro, Jico Emmanuel
Rosel, Jhustine Francisco
Mark Christian N. Delos Santos
November 28, 2016
INTRODUCTION
Life began in the oceans, and continues to thrive in its diverse
habitats. According to Protect Planet Ocean (2010),Oceans are the
lifeblood of planet Earth and humankind. They flow over nearly threequarters of our planet, and hold 97% of the planet's water. The air that
you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat, the products that
keep you warm, safe, informed, and entertained all can come from
or be transported by the ocean.
Despite all these resources that we get from our marine
environment, still a lot of us choose to abuse it, maybe because of
ignorance, carelessness and mostly lack of awareness of the
consequences. Over time, we have witnessed drastic changes in our
marine environment and these changes to our oceans pose serious
concerns. Our marine environment provides us the basic necessities
that we need to survive. This study aims to raise awareness and
ultimately impose discipline to people especially the marine
transportation students of PPMS.
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Our marine environment is a precious asset, an essential
component of the global life support system, we depend on the seas
for our survival. This includes the ocean, the seabed, all marine wildlife
and coastal habitats. They are also essential for our economic
prosperity, social well-being and quality of life. Our marine
environment is a vital resource for life on Earth thats why we need to
find better ways of managing it.
The UN defines marine pollution as, The introduction by man,
directly, or indirectly, of substances or energy to the marine
environment resulting in deleterious effects such as: hazards to human
health, hindrance to marine activities, impairment of the quality of
seawater for various uses and reduction of amenities. Human
activities particularly shipping operations is one of the contributing
factors as to why our marine environment is fast deteriorating.
The health of oceans and marine biodiversity are negatively
affected by marine pollution, including marine debris, especially
plastic, persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals and nitrogen-based
compounds, from a number of marine and land-based sources,
including shipping and land run-off (Shipping and the Marine
Environment in the 21st Century, 2015). The International Maritime
Organization (IMO)
estimates
that Carbon
dioxide emissions
from shipping were equal to 2.2% of the global human-made emissions
in 2012 and expects them to rise by as much as 2 to 3 times by 2050 if
no action is taken.
The shipping operations and associated port activities that have
been identified as having the greatest potential impact on the marine
environment are: discharge of ballast water; use of antifouling paints;
disposal of marine debris; disposal of waste materials and sewage;
dredging and the disposal of dredged waste (spoil);
oil spills from
routine activities or accidental incidents; spills of hazardous materials
including chemical and radioactive materials; physical damage to
marine habitats by ships hulls (e.g. grounding); noise emissions; and
air emissions (AAPMA,2001).
4
Dredging usually causes the concentration of suspended solids to
rise and sediments to be disturbed both around the dredging site and
at spoil disposal areas (SoE, 1996)
Marine wastes from shipping operations include fuel, oil, human
wastes, galley wastes, wastewater (from toilets, sinks and showers),
garbage, cans, bottles and other solid wastes. In addition, waste from
shipping maintenance in spillways often enter waterways unrestricted
(OBrien, n.d.). To combat the illegal dumping of waste at sea, the
international
community
has
acknowledged
the
importance
of
adequate port waste facilities. MARPOL 73/78 places an obligation on
parties to ensure that ports provide waste reception facilities to
dispose of ships waste (ANZECC 1995b).
Many of the natural noises in the marine environment may give
biological cues for marine organisms, acting as navigational guides and
allowing detection of other species. Noise emissions which interfere
with natural sounds in the marine environment may affect the timing
of social and reproductive behaviour (McCauley 1994).
Physical
damage
from
shipping
operations
refers
to
the
grounding or sinking of vessels. The impact of physical damage include
the loss of habitat at least in the short term, depending on the location
of the grounding. There is also the possibility of losing cargo, including
damage to fuel and bulk storage tanks (OBrien, n.d.). And finally, air
emissions from shipping operations occur from the exhaust of diesel
and fuel oil combustion engines. Fugitive emissions may also result
from vapours and dusts emitted from bulk storage tanks, although
these sources are controlled to avoid any significant loss of cargo
(OBrien, n.d.).
REFERENCES
Protect Planet Ocean: Why are oceans important? (2010). Retrieved
from
http://www.protectplanetocean.org/collections/introduction/intro
box/oceans/introduction-item.html on November 26, 2016.
Glossary of Environment Statistics, Studies in Methods, Series F, No.
67, United Nations, New York, 1997
Law explorer: Shipping and the Marine Environment in the 21st
Century. (2015). Retrieved from
6
http://lawexplores.com/shipping-and-the-marine-environmentin-the-21st-century/ on November 26, 2016.
Henry
A.,
(n.d.)
Marine
pollution.
Retrieved
from
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Commission:
Environment
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sheet,
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and
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SoE (State of the Environment Advisory Council). 1996. Australia State
of the Environment 1996. Department of Environment Sport
and Territories, Canberra
OBrien, J. (n.d.) .Impacts of Shipping on the South-east Marine Region.
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from
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November 26, 2016
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