Off the coast of Italy, a period of slow sedimentation of shadows trapped in the Mediterranean Sea (1970s-1990s)

Off the coast of Italy, a period of slow sedimentation of shadows trapped in the Mediterranean Sea (1970s-1990s)
The Mediterranean Sea surrounding the Italian peninsula was extremely poor in tidal exchange compared to the open sea, and once pollution flowed in, it was destined to be difficult to escape. In Europe in the 1990s, marine protection laws were being developed in response to growing environmental awareness, but many aging tankers and single-shell vessels were still in operation in the field of marine transportation. The accident off the coast of Italy was a typical example of the discrepancy between this system and the actual situation.

The coast is lined with tourist cities such as Venice, Naples, and Genoa. If an accident occurred, the sea water would lose its clarity, the beaches would be covered with a black oil slick, and seabirds and marine life would be severely impacted. The Mediterranean Sea's cycle is said to average 40 years, and once pollution occurs, it remains for a long time, making the tourism and fishing industries susceptible to reputational damage and complicating compensation issues.

The background to this is the rapid increase in the volume of oil transport from the 1980s to the 1990s and the slow pace of vessel renewal. Although the EU strengthened port state audits to eliminate dangerous vessels, many vessels slipped through the regulatory net.

In the framework of the Mediterranean Environment Protection Program (MAP), countries met after the accident and the issue of balancing tourism protection and marine conservation became an agenda item. The web records of citizen volunteers picking up oil lumps on the beaches and the sight of the Mediterranean Sea losing its azure hue were perceived as a crisis of culture and life. The article focuses on the Italian coast because it symbolizes the vulnerability of the closed sea and its direct impact on the local economy.