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of this scale. The focus of at-sea response operations was understood to have been the use 
of booms and skimmers and sorbents to attempt to recover floating oil. 
From the early stages of the response ITOPF had recommended to Korean authorities that 
large-scale aerial dispersant application be considered as an effective means of mitigating 
the impacts to sensitive resources along the Korean coastline. However, agreement was not 
provided until a week after the incident, when OSRL was mobilised to the site with their Her 
cules aircraft and ADDS Pack aerial spraying system. A test spray was conducted at the 
time, and it is understood that the results were not encouraging, and the involvement of 
OSRL was ceased at that stage. By that stage, after a week of the oil spreading oil and 
weathering at sea, the window of opportunity for widespread spraying of dispersants had 
passed. 
The shoreline contamination resulting from the HEBEI SPIRIT spill was widespread and se 
vere in some areas, particularly within Taean County. The impact of the spill extended across 
three provinces and several hundred kilometres of coastline, both on the mainland and on 
numerous islands, along the western coast of South Korea. The west coast of Korea is an 
important area for fishing and mariculture, and thousands of hectares of seaweed cultivation 
facilities, particularly laver, and intertidal oyster cultivation were affected by the oil, with se 
vere socio-economic implications. Many farms and facilities required removal and replace 
ment to minimise further contamination of the surrounding area by oil trapped in the facilities. 
Large-scale hatcheries for laver, sea mustard, abalone, sea cucumber, and finfish were also 
affected by oil taken in through water intakes. In addition, the Taean-haean Marine National 
Park is an important tourist area in South Korea with ~21 million visitors annually to the 
beaches and coastal scenery. While the clean-up work reduced the effect of the oil on this 
industry, significant losses were nevertheless recorded by tourist businesses. 
A major shoreline clean-up operation was undertaken with 21 separate clean-up contractor 
companies and numerous province-level and city authorities hiring many local villagers as 
labourers (up to 10,000 people per day). Significant numbers from the army were also de 
ployed together with an immense volunteer effort (up to 50,000 per day). 
Although it is not possible to conclude how successful a large-scale aerial dispersant spray 
ing operation may have been in this case, with early intervention it may have been possible 
to mitigate the widespread shoreline contamination and associated damage to sensitive re 
sources. 
Key Lessons Learned 
The four case studies discussed in the above sections help to demonstrate some of the key 
considerations associated with dispersant application as a strategy for dealing with oil spills 
at sea, such as the advantages of having comprehensive plans in place, including a clear 
dispersant use policy; the importance of considering the oil type and its properties; the use 
fulness of carrying out test sprays prior to widespread application of dispersants; the merits 
of balanced decision-making when taking account of the potential benefits and negative con 
sequences of applying dispersants to oil at sea in sensitive areas; and the importance of 
making rapid decisions when faced with a short window of opportunity to act. 
In ITOPF’s experience the decision whether or not to use dispersants is very rarely ‘clear-cut’ 
and typically a balance has to be struck between the advantages and limitations of different 
response options, cost-effectiveness and conflicting priorities for protecting different re 
sources from pollution damage (e.g. from different government agencies, central govern 
ment, the fishing community, environmental groups and the public). In most instances a bal 
anced assessment of the net environmental and economic benefits will be necessary prior to 
application. The time available to use dispersants effectively is likely to be limited both by the