National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) surveys of US coastal waters have determined that at least 17 shipwrecks, most located in the Atlantic Ocean, may pose a hazard from leaking oil. Information from the survey has been passed on to the US Coast Guard, which has the final authority to handle oil pollution threats under the National Contingency Plan and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90). In the wake of chronic oiling resulting in thousands of seabird deaths between 1990 and 2003 due to intermittent oil leakage from the S.S. Jacob Luckenbach, these findings are cause for concern.
Over 20,000 shipwrecks were evaluated in the NOAA survey. Older sailing or coal-powered vessels, as well as ships that sank after breaking apart in storms or after collisions reducing the likelihood that they still contain significant oil, were eliminated from the priority list. Another consideration is that the exact location of many vessels is unknown. These ships would need to be found using ROVs and underwater survey equipment before they can be thoroughly evaulated. Local, regional and national contingency plans for oil spill response may use this information to update their risk assessment for their response area. The full report can be viewed on the NOAA website.