해양수송의 친환경·저탄소 전환에 따른 신형 해양오염사고 대비·대응 정책 연구 = Developing Policies to Prepare and Respond to New Marine Pollution Accidents in Response to the Eco-Friendly and Low-Carbon Transition of Marine Transportation

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Ⅰ. Introduction
□ This study proactively suggested a new management plan for marine accidents in response to the changes in the marine environment, focusing on the eco-friendly and low-carbon transition of marine transportation.
ㅇ We conducted ① an analysis of issues and conditions in the marine transportation, ② an analysis of marine pollution accidents and investigation of the impact of new marine pollution accidents, ③ an analysis of limitations of the existing marine pollution accident management policies, and ④ a review of advanced management systems for new marine pollution accidents, based on which we aimed to develop ⑤ a response system for the prevention of new marine pollution accidents, focusing on eco-friendly fuel leakage.
Ⅱ. Analysis of Issues and Conditions for Marine Transportation
□ The international society has strengthened environmental regulations and environmental objectives in the marine transportation to overcome the climate crisis.
ㅇ The International Maritime Organization has strengthened the regulations of air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions by reducing sulfur content of fuel oil in all seas from 3.5% to 0.5%, shipping’s carbon intensity by 70%, and shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50% until 2050.
□ The pressure to develop and supply eco-friendly ships and fuels is increasing due to the low-carbon conversion in marine transportation.
ㅇ The U.S., UK, Germany, and China are developing and distributing eco-friendly ships, and changing ship fuel from heavy oil to gas oil, low sulfur oil, and liquefied natural gas.
ㅇ South Korea is also expected to convert 15% of ships to eco-friendly ships until 2030, and to expand the supply of low-carbon or carbon-free fuels, based on the implementation of the 2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy, the Act on the Promotion of Development and Distribution of Environment- Friendly Ships, and the First Basic Plan for the Development and Distribution of Eco-Friendly Ships (2021-2030).
□ The use of various eco-friendly fuels including low-sulfur oil, liquefied natural gas, electricity, hydrogen, ammonia, and fuel cells is expected due to technological advancement. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare and respond to marine pollution accidents that may be caused by the leakage of new substances excluding oil.
Ⅲ. Analysis of the Occurrence of Marine Pollution Accidents
□ The occurrence of marine oil spill pollution has decreased, due to improvements in the policies for the prevention and control of oil spill pollution. However, new types of marine pollution accidents have occurred as the risk of these accidents increased due to the transport of hazardous and noxious substances, the development of eco-friendly ships, the development of alternative fuels, and so on.
ㅇ In 2020, the number of oil spill events that occurred was 234, a number that has decreased by 47% from that of 2001, due to the mandatory double hull and forced removal of built tankers.
ㅇ In 2020, among incoming and outgoing ships, the percentage of ships carrying hazardous and noxious substances was 35% and the volume of hazardous and noxious substances carried by ships was 296 million tons, increasing by 5% and 17% respectively, compared to 2011.
ㅇ 59 new marine pollution accidents have occurred over the past 20 years (2001-2020). The number itself is insignificant but that these accidents are continuously occurring every year is a concern.
□ Eco-friendly fuels are alternative fuels based on hydrocarbon. When these fuels are spilled into the sea, they have a fatal impact on the marine environment/ecology, society/economics, and health/safety, depending on their type, capacity, and toxicity.
ㅇ Eco-friendly fuels include liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, biogas, bio-diesel, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, and batteries.
ㅇ Unlike oil, they have characteristics such as invisibility, diffusion, persistence, flammability, explosion, and toxicity which cause fatal injuries and deaths of organisms, disruption of the ecosystem, decline in the value of commercial and tourism resources, and damage to the heart, respiratory system, and central nervous system of humans.
□ New types of marine pollution accident such as eco-friendly fuel spills can lead to a large-scale complex disaster accompanied by fire, explosion, and the leakage of hazardous and noxious substances, causing damage to life and property.
Ⅳ. Analysis of the Existing Policies for the Management of Marine Pollution Accidents
□ South Korea established a national response system for oil and hazardous and noxious substances spills by enhancing the capacity to prepare accidents, improving systems, expanding the equipment, and promoting the science-based management of marine pollution.
ㅇ South Korea promoted the preparedness, improvement, response, and restoration of marine pollution by the enactment and enforcement of the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety, the Marine Environment Management Act, and the Act on Conservation and Utilization of the Marine Environment.
ㅇ South Korea improved the system and expanded the equipment for the management of marine pollution caused by oil and hazardous and noxious substance spills in accordance with the Fourth Comprehensive Marine Environment Conservation Plan (2011-2020).
ㅇ South Korea established an oil spread prediction system and an intelligent marine pollution accident decision-making support system. Also, the technology for managing hazardous and noxious substances is expected to be developed.
ㅇ The budget for marine pollution management of the Korea Coast Guard in 2021 is 15 billion KRW, which is a 48% increase compared to 2012.
□ South Korea intends to promote the conversion to eco-friendly ships and fuels according to the Fifth Comprehensive Marine Environment Conservation Plan (2021-2030) and the First Basic Plan for the Development and Distribution of Eco-Friendly Ships (2021-2030). However, the management system for leaks of new pollutants such as eco-friendly fuels is insufficient, as it was established centered on the government and oil pollution accidents.
ㅇ Therefore, it is necessary to ① review the legislative system for new marine pollution accident management, ② supplement the marine environment comprehensive plan, ③ expand management materials and management tasks including complex disasters, new substances, and climate change, ④ expand the role of the Korea Coast Guard including on-site command and management as well as environmental rescue, ⑤ develop equipment and technologies for new substances or air pollution, ⑥ establish a cooperation system for sharing of information, equipment, and human resources, and ⑦ establish a permanent scientific advisory organization.
Ⅴ. Consideration of the Management System for New Types of Marine Pollution Accidents
□ In order to manage new types of marine pollution accidents, major advanced countries established systems for the disaster control, rescue, firefighting, education, training, and public relations management regarding the substances which are dangerous and harmful to health, environment, and welfare, through cooperation with private companies.
ㅇ The U.S., Japan, and Europe ① established the basis for emergency rescue and firefighting at sea, and ② expanded the scope of accident management to include aircraft as well as ships and offshore facilities. ③ Regulations and standards for rescuing, firefighting, equipping disaster prevention resources, and arranging response vessels are established, imposing duty to comply. They are ④ preparing new marine pollution accidents by operating an international expert group. They established not only national and regional plans but also ⑤ plan for districts, and ⑥ developed a response manual for the management of new marine pollution accidents. ⑦ Countermeasure headquarters are established according to the characteristics of an accident, and ⑧ a special response team or technical support team is formed to respond to new marine pollution accidents. They ⑨ support science-based responses based on the risk assessment of new marine pollution accidents. ⑩ Through cooperation with private companies, they ⑪ established an integrated response management system.
□ In order to manage new types of land pollution accidents, South Korea established a system for the investigation, supervision, safety management, and leakage management of chemical substances or dangerous substances that are likely to cause great damage to health and the environment.
ㅇ The Ministry of Environment ① designates and manages chemical substances and ② special management areas where a possibility of chemical spill accidents is higher and the damage is greater in the event of an accident. It ③ imposes an obligation to install a fire brigade, and ④ develops the standards for managing people in charge of substances requiring preparation for accidents such as personal protective equipment for each substance. It ⑤ established a joint chemical disaster prevention center consisting of experts from related organizations, ⑥ built a response information system of chemical spill accidents to evaluate the spread and risk of spilled and leaked substances, and ⑦ built a mobile application for sharing accident situation. ⑧ Along with activities to control toxic substances, it ⑨ implements measures to protect, rescue, and control residents. It ⑩ investigates the impacts of accidents, and ⑪ provides the local governments with useful information for recovery.
□ It is necessary to establish a new management system for marine pollution accidents in consideration of the advanced management system for marine and land pollution accidents.
ㅇ ① With the control of new pollutant spills focusing on eco-friendly fuels, ② it is necessary to establish an accident management system including rescue and firefighting. Also, it is necessary to ③ establish a foundation and ④ build capacity for the sectors of policy, information, technology, equipment, budget, and human resources, and ⑤ promote the cooperation between local governments and the government/private agencies.
Ⅵ. Policy Suggestions for Preparing and Responding to New Types of Marine Pollution Accidents
□ A paradigm shift in the policy is necessary for the management of marine pollution accidents from the ‘on-site control of oil spill accidents’ to the ‘preparation and response to marine disasters.’
□ We suggest six strategies and 16 tasks for the management of new marine pollution accidents to prepare and respond to marine disasters.
ㅇ [Strategy 1] Mainstreaming the prevention of marine pollution accidents breaking away from the ‘control’: raising the awareness of new marine pollution accidents; laying the groundwork for new marine pollution accident management policies; and increasing budget for new marine pollution accident management
ㅇ [Strategy 2] Implementation of the monitoring and forecasting of new marine pollution accidents: continuous monitoring of new marine pollution accidents; implementation of risk forecasting system on new marine pollution accidents
ㅇ [Strategy 3] Establishment of a new marine pollution accident prevention system: investigation, experimentation, and construction of information on new marine pollution accidents; development of the evaluation and prediction technology for new marine pollution accidents; establishment of strategies for each type of new marine pollution accident
ㅇ [Strategy 4] Reinforcement of on-site response to new marine pollution accidents: expansion of control forces of new marine pollution accidents; securing and operating technology and equipment for responding to new marine pollution accidents; development of a decision-making support system and mobile applications for responding to new marine pollution accidents; preparation of guidelines for the on-site response to new marine pollution accident
ㅇ [Strategy 5] Implementation of the post management of new marine pollution accidents: implementation of the post-impact assessment of new marine pollution accidents
ㅇ [Strategy 6] Establishment of cooperative governance for new marine pollution accidents: strengthening the role of the Korea Coast Guard in managing new marine pollution accidents; promotion of the prompt response to new marine pollution accidents in land-sea-air; strengthening the role of the private sector in the management of new marine pollution accidents
□ It is expected that this study will contribute to the realization of a safe society by establishing and implementing a management policy for new types of marine pollution accidents along with oil spill marine pollution accidents which still account for a high proportion of maritime pollution.