Oil spill model in the Gulf of Naples following collision events

Crude oil plays a crucial role in all modern economies and its transport is a key element of the global energy supply chain. Oil spill accidents cause serious damage to the marine ecological environment and coastal areas are particularly susceptible to pollution, requiring the development of accurate predictive models to evaluate their impacts and planning prompt response. This paper describes the development of an oil spill modelling system that can be employed for forecast simulations and probabilistic risk analysis based on wind and surface current data. Particularly, an improved outflow model for oil tankers following collision events is employed to evaluate the transport and fate of oil spills in the Gulf of Naples (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea), using the GNOME model to simulate hypothetical scenarios during seasonal weather conditions. This integrated approach permits to investigate the concurrent effects of surface dynamics and wind forcing in determining the distribution of passive tracers over the area of interest and providing a significant support for the emergency responses. • In a tanker collision, damage parameters mainly affect volume and rate of oil outflow. • Environmental conditions are crucial for the fate and impact of the oil spill. • We integrated physical modelling of oil discharge with transport simulations. • High resolution HF coastal radar data can improve predictive models.