Transport of crude oil and other petroleum products from ports and terminals in Northwest Russia through the Barents Sea has been increasing over the last decade. In 2002, about 5 million tons of Russian oil was exported along the North-Norwegian coastline, in 2004, the volume reached almost 12 million tons, but dropped the following year; during 2005 to 2013, levels of export ranged between 9 and 12 million tons per year. In a five-ten year perspective, the total
available capacity from Russian arctic oil export terminals can reach the level of 100 million tons/year (Bambulyak and Frantzen, 2015b). Therefore, the risk of large accidents with oil tankers will increase in the years to come, unless considerable measures are imposed to reduce such risk (ICES AFWG, 2014).
No major impacts have been documented from operational discharges of oil and chemicals from anti-fouling systems related to ship transport.
Day-to-day impacts of shipping on the environment are caused by ordinary operational discharges. Routine discharges that have greatest impact on the Barents Sea are operational oil discharges and release of organotin compounds from anti-fouling systems. Steady pressure on the marine environment caused by oil pollution will have negative impacts, particularly on seabird populations. However, it has not been possible to quantify impacts in the Barents Sea.
To protect ships against corrosion, zinc anodes are used in addition to special paints. If zinc anodes are used in ballast tanks, zinc content in the water discharged may exceed the tolerance limits of fish eggs and larvae by a factor of 10 to 100. This may have local impacts in areas where ballast water is discharged. Thus far, such impacts have not been documented.
Maritime transport contributes to air emissions of CO2, NOX, non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), methane, SO2, and soot (black carbon).