Marine biologist Alan Deidun has developed a new online interface to help identify maritime risks from oil spills.

The €10,000 interface, called Biodivalue, is based on the existing automated information system (AIS) used to identify vessels longer than 10 metres. The AIS provides information on ships in a given area, including the type, dimensions, destination port and even sailing speed and distance from shore.

In accordance with International Maritime Organisation provisions, all ships longer than 10 metres must carry the on-board tracking system, Prof. Deidun said.

The public can find out which ships are to be in Maltese waters and when, through software linked to the AIS antenna and a code developed at the University of Malta.

Prof. Deidun hopes the system will be used to identify high-risk areas for oil spills and other marine environmental impacts, as well as areas where shipping traffic could pose a threat to migrating marine mammals.

Minimising the impact of adverse conditions at sea could help in avoiding “considerable delays” in marine transportation. The system could also prevent higher operational costs and fuel consumption, Prof. Deidun noted.

Since 90 per cent of oil traffic passes through the strait of Sicily, the shipping tracker could be of “particularly strategic value”, providing management recommendations to implement the tenets of marine spatial planning, he continued.

The Biodivalue shipping traffic tracker could prove useful for coastal managers and planners, stakeholders in oil spill prevention and coastal disaster management.

Prof. Deidun said the dataset could be used to select well-defined locations such as bunkering, waiting and marine protected areas and the fisheries management zone.

The outcome of Prof. Deidun’s research has been presented as a scientific paper at an international coastal symposium held in Busan, South Korea. Fellow academics Adam Gauci, Joel Azzopardi and Anthony Galea collaborated in the study.

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