Publications

Exploration and drilling activities in Indonesia have taken place since the early thirties. Most of these active explorations occur in extreme geographical conditions such as deep seas, remote locations and less developed infrastructures. Unfortunately, in the event of a subsea well release or offshore oil rig spills in Indonesia, the preferred option of response is usually offshore ‘containment and recovery’ using vessels with containment booms and skimmers due to the perceived toxicological effects of dispersants. A primary objective of oil spill response strategies is to reduce the environmental damage to the greatest extent as possible. Spilled oil will be carried by currents and blown by the wind, spreading rapidly away from the spill site, forming scattered slicks and patches over wide areas of sea (IMO, 2005). As a responder, it means working to prevent the spilled oil from coming in contact with sensitive resources that are particularly vulnerable to oil impact. Conventional containment and recovery method can only recover between 10-15% (ITOPF, 2010) of the spilled oil. However, in the event of a well blow-out, aerial dispersant is the only response tool capable of responding to large, offshore spill under a wide range of wind and sea states. Aircrafts are able to arrive on scene quickly, carry out aerial dispersant application and disperse significant quantities of oil over large operational areas. The intention of this paper is to create awareness of aerial dispersant application and the availability of a Hercules C-130 in Singapore to oil companies and government officials from Indonesia. It will also look at the potential high risks areas for spills within Indonesia, the stockpile locations of dispersant, pre-approved list of dispersants to be used and highlight some of the potential issues and gaps in order to be able to spray from the aircraft. This paper will also discuss case studies from Macondo spill Incident and how we can apply these strategies in Indonesian context.