Finding 5. The committee found the USCG oil spill database to be virtually inaccessible to the general public and of uneven quality from district to district. Major difficulties exist in the management of this important source of information on trends in and causes of oil spills, making specific analyses difficult. Extraordinary efforts were needed to obtain adequate data for the analysis of oil spill trends reported in Finding 1.

Finding 6. The USCG databases on port-state inspections for 1990 and 1995 cannot be used to make comparisons of fleet quality because the data for 1990 do not include information on the total number and type of vessels inspected. A new approach to port-state inspection now being used by the USCG could, over time, provide suitable data for future comparisons if the database is appropriately maintained by the USCG and includes information such as the total number of vessels making port calls and the number and type of vessels inspected.

Finding 7. Probabilistic outflow analysis of existing vessel designs (see Chapter 6) indicates that the complete conversion of the maritime oil transportation fleet of tankers and barges to effectively designed double hulls is expected to result in significantly improved protection of the marine environment. Reductions are anticipated in both the number of spills and the volume of oil spilled.

Federal Register. 1994. Emergency Lightering Equipment and Advanced Notice of Arrival Requirements for Existing Tank Vessels Without Double Hulls. Final Rule. FR 59(150):40186-40189. August 5.

Federal Register. 1995. Structural Measures to Reduce Oil Spills from Existing Tank Vessels Without Double Hulls . Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rule Making. FR 60(249):67226-67251, December 26.

Federal Register. 1996. Operational Measures to Reduce Oil Spills from Existing Tank Vessels Without Double Hulls. Final Rule. FR 61(147):39770-39794, July 30.

Federal Register. 1997a. Structural Measures to Reduce Oil Spills from Existing Tank Vessels Without Double Hulls. Final Rule. FR 62(7): 1622-1637, January 10.

Federal Register. 1997b. Operational Measures to Reduce Oil Spills from Existing Tank Vessels Without Double Hulls. Final Rule; Response to Petitions for Rulemaking. FR 62 (14):49603-49608. September 23.

Herbert Engineering Corporation. 1996. Comparative Study of Double-Hull vs. Single-Hull Tankers. Background paper prepared for the Marine Board Committee on OPA 90 (Section 4115) Implementation Review. San Francisco, Calif.: Herbert Engineering Corporation.

Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. 1992. Ships of Shame: Inquiry into Ship Safety. Report from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Transport, Communications and Infrastructure. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). 1993. OPA 90 Deepwater Ports Study. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Coast Guard Office of Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection.

Front Matter (R1-R20)

Executive Summary (1-9)

1 Introduction (10-17)

2 Ship Safety and Protection of the Marine Environment (18-41)

3 Operational Makeup of the Maritime Oil Transportation Industry (42-64)

4 Economic Impact of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 on the International Tanker Fleet (65-96)

5 Domestic (Jones Act) Tanker Trade (97-114)

6 Design, Construction, Operation, and Maintenance of Double-Hall Vessels (115-141)

7 Conclusions and Recommendations (142-150)

Appendix A (151-157)

Appendix B (158-164)

Appendix C (165-169)

Appendix D (170-172)

Appendix E (173-175)

Appendix F (176-177)

Appendix G (178-181)

Appendix H (182-184)

Appendix I (185-186)

Appendix J (187-190)

Appendix K (191-242)

Appendix L (243-249)

Appendix M (250-262)

Acronyms and Glossary (263-266)