Since the beginning of the millennium, the struggle of seaport authorities in Europe for strategies capable of securing ‘license to operate’ and their competitiveness have become both difficult and complex. Port authorities are being challenged by sustainability agendas over the globe for finding ways to utilize port assets in a more productive and efficient manner in environmental, social, and economic terms. In addition to it, economic trade and development depend significantly on efficient shipping which is capable of carrying a high percentage of manufactured goods and traded resources. For instance, in 2008, over eight billion tons were reached by international trade through the sea (Håvold & Oltedal, 2018).

Oil products and crude oil account for approximately two-thirds of the overall carried cargo, and some other important cargoes are containers and dry mild. Maritime transport is comparatively safe, but the environmental, economic, and personal costs incurred by accidents can be significant. Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill are enough to explain magnitudes about the costs which might be incurred by marine accidents. For instance, extensive and severe oil pollution can be caused by tanker accidents. Although the issue of maritime security has been prevalent for a long time now. However, the attention on the issue has increased immensely in recent years (Arslan, Kurt, Turan, & Wolff, Safety culture assessment and implementation framework to enhance maritime safety, 2016).

Different national and international organizations have attempted to improve this situation with the introduction of several conventions and rules like SOLAS or Safety of Life at Sea. However, there still exists a risk of marine accidents which can adversely influence not only marine life but also the environment. Thus, efficient measures are necessary for mitigating this risk. In this research paper, the issue of maritime security will be explored in-depth, research objectives, and methodology will also be developed. In addition to it, the case studies of Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill will be explored and effective measures for preventing maritime accidents will be determined (Heij, Bijwaard, & Knapp, 2011).

1.1 Importance and Emergence of the Research Question

Since 1967 in Europe, more than ten events associated with oil tankers have occurred. Actually, the Atlantic coast is considered one of the main routes for tankers carrying oil and due to it, it is also affected the most. For instance, Prestige an oil tanker, loaded with 77,000 tons of bunker oil faced problems in 2002. It continued to face issued and it was 130 miles off the Southern coast before it finally sank. Following the event, approximately 40,000 tons of oil was leaked into the sea. Due to it, large slicks of oil drifted to the Galician coast. And gradually, these slicks reached the French and Cantabrian coasts as well (Garza-Gil, Prada-Blanco, & Vázquez-Rodríguez, 2006).

This oil spill is one of the worst accidents in the recent years due to the amount of zone affected and oil spilled. Galician can be recognized as the ground or region zero in associated with the damage which was caused by the Prestige. In 2001, aquaculture and fishing activities contributed approximately 2.23 percent of the gross value of Galicia and around 33,000 people are employed directly by this sector. For Galician regional economy, tourist expenses are large which reach almost 5.73 percent of the gross added economic value. And half of tourist activities are one way or another related to cost enjoyment. These figures can indicate just how much Galicia was influenced by the oil spill of Prestige (Acosta-González, Abercron, Rosselló-Móra, Wittich, & Marqués, 2015).

Now in 2017, the Agia Zoni II tanker wrecked at the waterside on the Salamina Island. The reasons for its wreck couldn’t be identified and due to this accident, large quantity of oil was leaked into the water. The oil spillage was detected after 4 hours of wreckage. On Saturday, the tanker had received 1,819 metric tons of fuel. However, the estimated quantity of oil that it had before shipping was approximately 2,570 tons. All petroleum products escaped in the water at the wreckage and during the next ten hours. 170 tons of oil had been estimated to form the oil spill. The pollution was identified first on Salamina’s Eastern coast and the coastal zone of Peiraiki and Freattyda. In the following 24 hours, it had spread along the area of Palaio Faliro and Attica’s Southern coasts (Thomas, et al.).

The presence of oil on the sea surface created anoxic conditions and interrupted the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen within the atmosphere. Gradually, this reduced the photosynthesis process and resulted in the reduction of phytoplankton. It explains how much the marine ecosystem was influenced by the wreckage of the ship. It also influenced marine animals and caused a number of animals to die (Helm, Costa, DeBruyn, O'Shea, Wells, & Williams, 2015).

If Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill are compared with each other, the latter one was more disastrous as it leaked a lot more oil in the sea than the former one. It also affected the nations on the coasts of which it reached. It is, however, important to consider that both of these accidents had a significant impact on both the environment and the economy, and they have raised questions about the maritime and environment safety. For instance, private costs are the ones which are associated with the seafood and fisheries sector and to tourism on all the coastal areas. These are considered private costs as only a specific group of people is affected for which there is a prevalence of market values. When Prestige sank, the limits of compensation established were 180 million euros. And with the introduction of Supplementary Funds, these limits were increased to 940 million (Albaigés, et al., 2015).

In order to avoid these costs and ensure the safety of maritime and environment, it is more than important to determine what measures should be implemented for mitigating the risk of marine accidents and ship wreckage. If these measures are not identified as soon as possible, there is a significant possibility that an event similar to Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill might occur (Arslan, Kurt, Turan, & Wolff, Safety culture assessment and implementation framework to enhance maritime safety, 2016).

Therefore, in this paper, these measures will be determined, and it will be analyzed how such a measure can mitigate this risk.

1.2 Research Aim of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

The aim of this research is to analyze the concept of maritime safety and to what extents a nation is influenced by the accidents of vessels in the sea. In addition to it, comparing the two major accidents Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill will also be considered an aim of this research. The last aim of this study is to identify the measure which can be efficient enough in mitigating the likelihood of marine accidents. Thus, this study will be quite beneficial to both researchers and the existing base of studies which revolve around transportation geography. It will identify a strategy which can be implemented to mitigate the risk of marine accidents (Hancock & Algozzine, 2017).

1.3 Research Questions of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

The research questions considered in this study are as follow:

1. How can maritime and environment be ensured?

2. Are maritime safety initiatives sufficient enough to mitigate the risk of ship wreckages?

3. How the event of Agia Zoni II Shipwreck can compare with Prestige Oil Spill?

4. What are the major concepts of maritime safety?

1.4 Research Objectives of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

Some of the research objectives considered in this paper are:

· To explore the concept of maritime safety.

· To explore the impacts of marine accidents on the environment.

· To compare the event of Agia Zoni II Shipwreck with the Prestige Oil Spill.

· To determine whether maritime safety initiatives alone are enough to mitigate the risks and effects of vessel accidents.

· And to identify the measure which can be effective in mitigating the likelihood of marine accidents.

1.5 Proposed Structure of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

First of all, the topic of maritime safety is introduced in this paper. Moving on, the significance and emergence of the research question are explained. Following this section are research aims, questions, and research objectives. And after the heading of the proposed structure, there will be a heading to literature survey or review in which different studies will be review and existing concepts will be explored. After the section of literature review, there will be a section of methodology in which research methods adopted in the study will be explained. This section will also have some subheadings in the form of introduction, research philosophy, approach, strategy, data collection and sampling, and data analysis methods will be explained. Lastly, dissertation timetable will be made using the Gantt chart (Flick, 2015).

2.0 Literature Review of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)
2.1 Introduction of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

In this section, different studies will be explored, and concepts will be research. In addition to it, the studies will be researched which are focused on maritime safety. The literature review explores the various particular studies that are relevant to the safety of maritime lives. Maritime safety has become one of the most important and essential element is the marine life. Due to the rapid growth of the pollution and population in the maritime, the risks of its safety are increasing rapidly.

2.2 Economic conditions and maritime safety

Economic trade and development rely significantly on effective shipping industry which is capable of carrying a high percentage of manufactured goods and traded resources. International seaborne trade, in 2008, reached more than eight billion tons of products and goods. Products of oil and crude oil account for almost two thirds of the overall carried cargo. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that maritime transport is comparatively safe but the environmental, economic, and personal costs associated with accidents can be quite large. Extensive and severe oil pollution might be caused by tanker accidents (Eliopoulou, Papanikolaou, & Voulgarellis, 2016).

2.3 Issue of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

The issue of maritime security has existed for a long time. Stowaway, smuggling, cargo pilferage, and piracy have been considered prime issues. In accordance with Heij, Bijwaard, and Knapp (2011), the main issues of maritime security include the above issues and it doesn’t involve accidents which might occur between tankers. In addition to it, authors consider that different national and international organizations have attempted to improve the situation with the introduction of several conventions and rules like SOLAS or Safety of Life at Sea. It has been determined by them that although there are different policies associated with maritime security, their effectiveness and implementation is not sufficient enough to mitigate these risks (Heij, Bijwaard, & Knapp, 2011).

2.4 Assessment of an oil spill’s of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

However, in accordance with Garza-Gil, Prada-Blanco, and Vázquez-Rodríguez (2006), accidents which involve tankers and sea vessels also pose a significant threat to maritime security. In fact, they pose a threat to not only maritime security but also to the environment and nations near to which they occur. And since 1967, more than ten such events have occurred in Europe. The Atlantic coast is among the main routes of all oil tankers and it also the most influenced zone. Authors have also given the example of Prestige oil tanker to make their point. In accordance with them, 19,000 tons of oil were spilled by the tanker in the sea. Approximately 40,000 tons of oil was spilled into the sea after a few months and slicks reached French, Cantabrian, and Galician coasts (Garza-Gil, Prada-Blanco, & Vázquez-Rodríguez, 2006).

The assessment of an oil spill’s social cost is related to a more complex and detailed set of damages in comparison with the normal assessments which are carried out for purposes of compensation. Private costs, in a more general approach, are combined with public damages. However, in terms of a tanker accident, private costs are associated with the seafood and fisheries sector, coastal, and tourism areas. The liability framework of the IPOC or International Oil Pollution Compensation, a convention which is adopted under the auspices of IMO or International Maritime Organization, compensates for all of these losses, once proof and quantification are provided. With the sinking of Prestige, the limits of compensation were established in 180 million euros. The Supplementary Fund was introduced by the IPOC system and the limits of compensation were increased to 940 million (Murphy, et al., 2016).

Firestone and Corbett (2002) explain that vessels engaged in international trade and travel to different nations. Thus, there are senseless in a sense. In the aftermath of 2001, significant attention is being paid to maritime security in a manner that both external and internal issues are resolved in an effective manner to ensure that nations and environments are protected. It is, however, important to consider increased security will incur significant amount of costs. And it is quite difficult to predict the amount of money that will have to be invested in an infrastructure which supports more security. In order to defend against possible risks which might cause issues, different measures can be implemented. For instance, the interior material of the ships can be replaced by a more flexible and strong material which doesn’t break even if the ship sinks. Similarly, exterior security against terrorist attacks and other types of crimes can be ensured by checking the background of staff and every other individual who is given access to the ship (Firestone & Corbett, 2002).

2.5 Incident of Agia Zoni of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

The incidents of the Agia Zoni are the one of the most important and a recent incident of the maritime lives that was occurs due to the oil spills in the sea in 2017. Due to this oil spill the lives of the maritime has been affected badly. An emergency operation is underway to clean up an oil spill from a sunken tanker that has blackened popular beaches and bays in Athens’ Argo-Saronic gulf. What had been thought a containable spill is being described by officials as an ecological disaster after thick tar and oil pollution drifted toward residential coastal areas. By Thursday, four days after the 45-year-old Agia Zoni II sank off Salamína island, mayors in suburbs south of the capital were forced to close beaches, citing public health risks. “This is a major environmental disaster,” said the mayor of Salamína, Isidora Nannou-Papathanassiou. “Clearly the danger [of pollution] was not properly gauged, the currents have moved the spill.” This news had been published in the Guardian newspaper related sunken tanker in the marina and sea. It has become the cause of the environmental disaster oil spills reached at the shores of Athens this week was an accident waiting to happen, according to maritime experts (The Guardian, 2017).

2.6 Summary of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

In this chapter, it has been determined that there exist two views about maritime safety. For instance, the first view is that maritime security is composed of external threats such as smuggling and piracy. In accordance with this view, these issues are more important in comparison with ship wreckage which is capable of influencing both nations and the environment. The second view is that maritime safety is exploited more by ship accidents which is capable of adversely influencing the environment and the economy of a nation. In addition to it, it has been determined that there are a number of ways which can be implemented to improve the maritime safety.

3.0 Methodology of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)
3.1 Introduction of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

In general, methodology is considered one of the most important paths of a research paper or dissertation. In this part, different methods which have been adopted for researching and finding information are explained. Additionally, it is also explained why a specific method was preferred over the other method. In this paper, a number of methods have been chosen for finding information and collecting data which will be explained in this part. There are different layers of research onion and there are different methods involved in each and every layer. For instance, in the first layer, research philosophies are present while in the second layer, different research approaches are available. And in the third layer, different research methods are present such as case study and action research (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2009). The methodology of this research paper is based on the research onion.

3.2 Research Philosophy of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

It can be said that positivism and interpretivism are two basic philosophies to research and data collection. For instance, quantitative and scientific methods are considered by positivists while humanistic methods are considered by interpretivists. According to positivism, an individual is influenced significantly by the actions of individuals and the society. Positivists believe that actions and behaviors of an individual can be explained by studying the social norms to which they are normally exposed. However, interpretivism considers that consciousness is possessed by individuals which means that they don’t just give reactions in response to external forces (Aliyu, Bello, Kasim, & Martin, 2014).

In this paper, interpretivism approach to research is considered because qualitative research methods are utilized in this approach for collecting information and analyzing it. And considering the nature of this research, the research questions can be answered better by adopting qualitative methods rather than quantitative methods because they are not only time consuming but can provide with inaccurate assumptions (Wickramasinghe & Alawattage, 2017).

3.3 Research Approach of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

There are different types of research approaches which can be considered for finding information. For instance, two of the most common approaches include deductive and inductive research approaches. In this paper, inductive research approach is adopted because this approach considers qualitative methods for finding information. The main difference that exists between deductive and inductive approach is concerned with the fact that while the aim of deductive approach is to test a theory, the objective of an inductive approach is concerned with the development of a completely new theory while utilizing the existing information. When a deductive approach is considered, it is important to form a hypothesis while in the inductive approach, research questions are considered for narrowing the scope of study. In this study, inductive research approach is considered more important and has been utilized because it not only includes the formation of research questions but also other qualitative methods for collecting data and finding information (Armat, Assarroudi, Rad, Sharifi, & Heydari, 2018).

3.4 Research Strategy of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

There are different techniques which have been considered in this research for finding information. These techniques include case studies, literature reviews, and interviews. With the use of these research methods, information has been collected. For instance, case studies of Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill are considered for determining their effects on the environment and nations. The analysis of these case studies will play an important role in revealing information which might not be found through the use of other methods. Case studies are considered a significant method for finding information because the events are real and information associated with them is also real. It means information taken from the case studies is reliable and it can be utilized for building the research. Literature review is one of the most effective and time-efficient methods of finding information and in this paper, interviews have also been considered in this paper along with literature reviews (Hart, 2018).

3.5 Data Sampling of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

The strategies of data sampling for literature reviews and interviews are different from each other. For instance, in the case of interviews, 25 officials of the maritime industry have been selected. Meanwhile, for conducting the literature review, a specific criterion was selected. For instance, only relevant journal articles were selected which contained information about maritime safety. Other journal articles were not chosen which didn’t have the required data. In addition to it, relevant keywords were utilized for researching and finding these journal articles. Only these sampling techniques are considered in this research for constructing the arguments, answering the research questions, and accomplishing the research objectives (Taherdoost).

3.6 Methods of Data Analysis of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

In order to analyze the data, the method of observation was utilized. For instance, once the required journal articles have been selected, they will be analyzed thoroughly and the required information will be obtained from the journal articles. Similarly, once the interviews have been conducted, the same method of observation will be utilized for analyzing the information and determining whether the current measures for ensuring maritime safety are effective enough or not. It will also be determined which method can be more efficient in ensuring that accidents don’t occur and even if they do occur, the oil will not be spilled in the sea (Walliman, 2017).

4.0 Dissertation Timetable of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

The timetable for the research can be seen in the following picture of Gantt chart:

Table 1: Duration for Thesis Writing

The first task involved in the writing of thesis is introduction and it will be completed in one month. Following this task is reviewing the existing literature and finding information. It is one of the most time consuming tasks of a research. Thus, it will consume 2 months and methodology will be developed within a month. The next task is associated with the collection of data and interviews will be conducted in this task. Hence, it will also consume 2 months while the analysis of collected data will consume 1 month. The last task is concerned with writing the whole thesis and it will consume 4 months and the whole project will end by the end of October 2020 (Nurre & Weir, 2017).

5.0 References of Maritime Safety in Ports (Agia Zoni II Shipwreck and Prestige Oil Spill)

Acosta-González, A., Abercorn, S.-M. M.-v., Rosselló-Móra, R., Wittich, R.-M., & Marqués, S. (2015). The effect of oil spills on the bacterial diversity and catabolic function in coastal sediments: a case study on the Prestige oil spill. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 22(20), 15200-15214.

Albaigés, J., Bernabeu, A., Castanedo, S., Jiménez, N., Morales-Caselles, C., Puente, A., et al. (2015). The prestige oil spill. Handbook of oil spill science and technology, 513-545.

Aliyu, A. A., Bello, M. U., Kasim, R., & Martin, D. (2014). Positivist and non-positivist paradigm in social science research: Conflicting paradigms or perfect partners. J. Mgmt. & Sustainability, 4.

Armat, M. R., Assarroudi, A., Rad, M., Sharifi, H., & Heydari, A. (2018). Inductive and deductive: Ambiguous labels in qualitative content analysis. The Qualitative Report, 23(1), 219-221.

Arslan, V., Kurt, R. E., Turan, O., & Wolff, L. D. (2016). Safety culture assessment and implementation framework to enhance maritime safety. Transportation research procedia, 14, 3895-3904.

Eliopoulou, E., Papanikolaou, A., & Voulgarellis, M. (2016). Statistical analysis of ship accidents and review of safety level. Safety Science, 85, 282-292.

Firestone, J., & Corbett, J. (2002). Maritime transportation: a third way for port and environmental security. Widener L. Symp. J., 9.

Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project. Sage.

Garza-Gil, M. D., Prada-Blanco, A., & Vázquez-Rodríguez, M. X. (2006). Estimating the short-term economic damages from the Prestige oil spill in the Galician fisheries and tourism. Ecological Economics, 58(4), 842-849.

Hancock, D. R., & Algozzine, B. (2017). Doing case study research: A practical guide for beginning researchers. Teachers College Press.

Hart, C. (2018). Doing a literature review: Releasing the research imagination. Sage.

Håvold, J. I., & Oltedal, H. A. (2018). Culture and maritime safety. Managing Maritime Safety, 53-70.

Heij, C., Bijwaard, G. E., & Knapp, S. (2011). Ship inspection strategies: Effects on maritime safety and environmental protection. Transportation research part D: transport and environment, 16(1), 42-48.

Helm, R. C., Costa, D. P., DeBruyn, T. D., O'Shea, T. J., Wells, R. S., & Williams, T. M. (2015). Overview of effects of oil spills on marine mammals. Handbook of Oil Spill Science and Technology, 455-475.

Murphy, D., Gemmell, B., Vaccari, L., Li, C., Bacosa, H., Evans, M., et al. (2016). An in-depth survey of the oil spill literature since 1968: long term trends and changes since Deepwater Horizon. Marine pollution bulletin, 113(1-2), 371-379.

Nurre, S. G., & Weir, J. D. (2017). Interactive Excel-based Gantt chart schedule builder. INFORMS Transactions on Education, 17(2), 57-57.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research methods for Business Students. Pearson Education.

Taherdoost, H. (n.d.). Sampling methods in research methodology; How to choose a sampling technique for research. 2016.

Thomas, G., Archer, B., Cameron, T., Hepburn, L., McGenity, T., Miliou, A., et al. (n.d.). QUANTIFYING A MARINE ECOSYSTEM’S RESPONSE TO A CATASTROPHIC OIL SPILL.

Walliman, N. (2017). Research methods: The basics. Routledge.

Wickramasinghe, D., & Alawattage, C. (2017). Interpretivism. The Routledge Companion to Critical Accounting, 17-32.