Assessing risk in the intercontinental transportation of crude oil

Abstract

Marine transportation, the primary mode for oil and petroleum shipments, could result in oil spill episodes. Fortunately, catastrophic events such as Exxon Valdez, which resulted in enormous socioeconomic and environmental costs, are rare though smaller operational spills are rather frequent. Interestingly, most of the risk assessment engagements have focused on local geographical areas, thus not suitable for intercontinental transportation because of major variations in spill-related socio-economic and environmental costs around the world. We propose a risk assessment methodology that not only encapsulates the Formal Safety Assessment guidelines proposed by the International Maritime Organization, but also takes into consideration the location-specific economic and environmental costs. The methodology, which involves an expected consequence approach applied over a segmented route, is applied to solve a realistic size problem instance, which is then analysed to gain managerial insights.