Towards Environmental Risk Acceptance Criteria Available to Purchase

Risk evaluation criteria related to safety of human life have been available in the maritime industry for some time. However, only recently these criteria became formally accepted by including the CAF and ALARP-boundaries into the Formal Safety Assessment guidelines of the IMO. Risk evaluation criteria related to the protection of the environment are not yet agreed. A proposal for a cost effectiveness criterion related to accidental oil spills called CATS was suggested by the project SAFEDOR. However, a societal risk acceptance of environmental damages from shipping is not yet proposed. And, to effectively apply a cost-effectiveness criterion related to environmental protection, societal risk acceptance and the associated ALARP area need to be defined. To contribute to the ongoing discussion on environmental risk evaluation criteria, this paper presents a societal risk acceptance criterion related to oil spills of tankers which can be used within risk-based ship design and approval as well as for rule-making. The presented work adds to SAFEDOR’s contribution to risk evaluation criteria for the maritime transport in providing an ALARP area for risk assessment of oil transport by tankers. The paper first presents the current state of oil transportation by tankers and continues with providing suggestions how the ALARP boundaries may be derived in this context.