COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DATABASES ON OIL AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS SPILLS FROM SHIPS

In the context of the growing demand of developing and developed countries for oil and its derivatives, there is a positive trend in the production and transportation of hydrocarbons, mainly by sea. The combination of these processes increases the probability of environmental pollution. Moreover, the greatest pollution is associated precisely with shipping activities, when a significant amount of oil enters the seas and oceans as a result of accidents with ships. It is well known that detailed databases of oil spills are a necessary tool for realistic statistical analysis, the main purpose of which is to develop a system of methods to reduce oil and its products spills in the future. A comprehensive study of such international, national and corporate databases, as well as the analysis of the statistical data given in them is considered in the paper. Particular attention is paid to assessing the reliability of these data and their dependence on various factors. In the course of the study, methods of mathematical distribution of data with the construction of trend lines in some cases are used. Through the analysis, the fact of a decrease in the total number and volume of oil and oil products spills from sea vessels is established. It is also found that information on spills in some databases is not true, and some databases are completely closed. It is proposed to create in Russia a unified open database on oil and its products spills. Among other things, an inversely proportional relationship between the probability of an event and the damage from it is proved; small spills of oil and its products occur more often than large ones. The results of this relationship can be used in the development of models for assessing the oil spills probability and the damage.