Fuzzy-Based Evaluation of the Air Bubble Barrier as an Alternative Oil Spill Response Equipment

Abstract Many different types of barriers have been developed because of ever-increasing environmental awareness and need to protect the marine environment from pollution. Most barriers comprise floating booms to block floating debris with a skirt or subsurface portion to trap oil. An alternative is air bubble barriers, which have several advantages over traditional booms for protecting permanent structures like harbor entrances and water intakes. This study investigates the use of air bubble barriers as an oil spill containment technique. Eleven marine professionals with an average of 15 years experience participated in a SWOT-Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (IT2-FAHP). In-depth interviews and literature review of studies of air bubble barriers were conducted to establish the SWOT critera and sub-criteria. The main critera identified was strengths, with a score of 0.459, while the top-prioritized sub-critera was “Unlike traditional oil containment booms, the fastest response to the spread of oil spills”, with a score of 0.187.