CHAPTER ONE

1.0 BACK GROUND OF THE STUDY

Marine pollution is one the negative consequence of Maritime transport that has existed for so many years and was discovered over certain period of time and a lot has been done and is still being done to remedy the situation.

Studies shows that since from the early 1960s the history of marine pollution has been reported from past years to present date and it focuses on micro plastics and their role in the continues transfer of marine pollutants to the marine food webs. Also in the in the 1970s, large number of plastic pellets have been recorded in the North Atlantic Ocean and high concentration of the litter in the North Pacific Ocean. Novel studies have reported a series dynamics of stranded beach litter. Growing concern about the impacts or negative effects of marine pollution was recorded by the early 1980s which led to a series of meetings on marine debris. The first two international conferences held in Honolulu by the US National Marine Fisheries Service played a key role in setting the research agenda for the next decade. By the end of the 1980s, most negative effects of marine litter were well understood, and attention was shifted to seeking effective solutions to the marine litter problem.

According to (Guppy1917; Muir1937), the dispersal of floating debris at sea has long fascinated people as early as 1870.  Jules Verne in his novel titled twenty thousand leagues under the sea, provided a graphic description of how floating debris accumulates in ocean gyres. This is seen specifically in chapter one of the novel. From the last 50 years, research on marine litter is seen to mostly be related to the development of plastics. Plastics are a diverse group of synthetic polymers that have their origins from the late 19th century, but which really came to the fore in the mid-twentieth century. Their low density, durability, excellent barrier properties and relatively low cost make plastics ideal materials for a wide range of manufacturing and packaging applications. Their versatility has seen the amount of plastic produced annually increase rapidly over the last few decades to an estimated 288 million tons in 2012, and this total continues to grow at about 4 % per year (Plastics Europe 2013). However, the properties that make plastics so useful also make inappropriately handled waste plastics a significant environmental threat. Their durability means that they persist in the environment for many years, and their low density means that they are readily dispersed by water and wind, sometimes travelling thousands of kilometers from source areas (Ryan et al. 2009). As a result, plastic wastes are now ubiquitous pollutants in even the most remote areas of the world (Barnes et al. 2009).

The first record on the Interactions between marine organisms and persistent litter was done in the late 1960s in scientific literature.  In 1969, Kenyon and Kridler reported the ingestion of plastic items by Laysan Albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis) on the northwest Hawaiian Islands. They found plastic in the stomachs of 74 of 100 albatross chicks that died prior to fledging in 1966, with up to 8 items and an average of 2 g plastic per bird. However, this was an order of magnitude less than the average mass of pumice, seeds, charcoal and wood that the chicks also were fed by their parents. Kenyon and Kridler (1969) inferred that these indigestible items were swallowed inadvertently at sea, because virtually all items floated in seawater. They also speculated that the large size of many of the items might have contributed to the chicks’ deaths by blocking their digestive tracts.

 As years go by, it is noticed that, the perception about plastics changes. This is seen within the last 60 years specifically in one-off applications. Once seen as the savior of the American housewife (Life Magazine 1955), there are now calls to treat waste plastics as hazardous materials (Rochman et al. 2013a), reiterating a point first made by Bean (1987) that persistent plastic wastes qualify as hazardous wastes under the US Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Most of the threats posed by plastics occur at sea (Gregory 2009; Thompson et al. 2009), where waste plastics tend to accumulate (Barnes et al. 2009; Ryan et al. 2009). Trends in the numbers of papers on the marine litter problem show the growth in research from its infancy in the late 1960s, when it was still treated largely as a curiosity, through the 1970s and 1980s, when most of the threats to marine systems were identified, baseline data were collected on the distribution, abundance and impacts of marine litter, and policies were formulated to tackle the problem. Research tapered off in the 1990s, despite ongoing increases in the amounts of marine litter (Ryan and Moloney 1990, 1993), and it is only in the last decade or so that there has been a resurgence in research interest, following alarming reports of mid-ocean ‘garbage patches’ (Moore et al. 2001) and increasing appreciation of the pervasive nature of very small ‘micro plastic’ particles (<0.5 mm) and their potential impacts on the health of marine ecosystems (Oehlmann et al. 2009; Thompson et al. 2009).

Statistics on Marine pollution

According to the Statista website, Jessica Aizarani publication of, Feb 23, 2023the average number of oil spillages that had been recorded over the last 10 years, between the years2010 to 2019 there has been an average of 1.8 large oil spills from tanker incidents every year in the decade. In 2022, reports show that four oil spills have been recorded which resulted to the leakage of more than 700 metric tons of oil. Within the 1970’s the number of oil tanker spills had notably reduced. In the 1970’s there were often in excess of 20 large oil spills per year.

Largest ever oil spills

The Gulf war oil spill in January 1991 is the largest global oil spill to ever take place since commercial drilling took off. It is estimated that about 380 to 520 million gallons of oil were intentionally dumped into the ocean by the Iraqi government, who had invaded Kuwait and was trying to prevent the arrival of a UN-coalition navy force. The second largest oil spill which one of the most recent disasters, is the case of Deepwater Horizon wellhead blowout in 2010. Over 200 million gallons of oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico, while 11 people were killed in the accident.

Crude oil and refined fuel spills from tanker ship accidents have damaged vulnerable ecosystems in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, France, the Sundarbans, Ogoniland, and many other places. The quantity of oil spilled during accidents has ranged from a few hundred tons to several hundred thousand tons (e.g., Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Atlantic Empress, Amoco Cadiz), but volume is a limited measure of damage or impact. Smaller spills have already proven to have a great impact on ecosystems, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill because of the remoteness of the site or the difficulty of an emergency environmental response.

 One of the worst spills ever experience on the planet is the case of the Niger Delta which occurred within the years 1970 and 2000 spilling up to 1.5 million tons of oil. In the year 1956 and 2006, there were over 7,000 spills.

The RTS website (www.rts.com) gives a brief statistic on Plastic pollution at Sea. This indicates that Marine pollution is not only from oil spillages but also by human activities which is from the plastic Industry and the waste dump in the sea by humans.

Apart from oil spills there is also an estimated 75 to 199 million tons of plastic waste currently in our oceans, with a further 33 billion pounds of plastic entering the marine environment every single year. This constant flow of plastic production is simply too much for existing waste management and recycling infrastructure.

Plastic pollution permeates every inch of the ocean from micro plastics in the food chain to plastic water bottles floating on the surface. One of the most famous examples, however, is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This monolith of ocean pollution is made up of all kinds of marine debris and contains 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic, covering an area twice the size of Texas.

1.1 Delimitation of the study

Spatial: The study is carried out specifically in Limbe at the regional delegation of transport in Limbe. In the department of maritime transport. The Merchant marine office in Limbe which is located directly opposite down beach Limbe.

Time: This research was carried out for a period of 6 months. The researcher started from the month of January and ended in July.

Theme: Marine pollution is a very broad topic and a lot has been written on it and is still being written. This study will focus on what marine pollution is, sources of marine pollution what can be done to stop marine pollution and most importantly how satisfied workers of merchant marine Limbe are with the procedures aimed at addressing marine pollution. The study will also focus on the various procedures put in place to address marine pollution both national procedures and international procedures.

1.2 statement of the problem

Marine pollution which has been concluded to be a negative activity has far reaching effects on our society, territorial waters and internal and our nation at large. With this effects it has been of great concern to the world which brought about a series of conventions to address this problem and these procedures have been implemented in so many countries in the world and Cameroon is one of those countries that are signatories the convention and thus adopt these procedures. The regulations are enforced by the administrative body which is the maritime administration and merchant marine is part of the maritime administration. This research is concern with how satisfied are the workers of merchant marine with the procedures put in place to address this problem.

1.3Research questions

Main research question

• Are the workers of Merchant marine satisfied with the procedure put in place to address marine pollution?

Specific research questions

• What can be done to solve the problem of marine pollution?
• Do the workers of merchant marine respect the procedures put in place to address marine pollution?
• What can be done to ensure that the workers of Merchant marine respect the procedures put in place to address marine pollution?

1.4Research objectives

        Main research objective

• To investigatE if the workers of merchant marine are satisfied with the procedure put in place to address marine pollution IN LIMBE.

     Specific research objectives

• To investigate what can be done to solve the problem of marine pollution
• To investigate if the workers of Merchant marine respect the procedures put in place to address marine pollution.
• To find out what can be done to ensure workers of merchant marine respect the procedure put in place to address marine pollution.