UniKL MIMET/ACAD/

UNIVERSITI KUALA Doc. No:

DTL/F-05
LUMPUR Revision
03
No:
Malaysian Institute of Marine
Engineering Technology (MIMET) Effective
26/09/2016
Date:

ASSESSMENT BRIEF AND Page

1 of 1
No:
VERIFICATION COVER SHEET

COURSE DETAILS

SECTION MM YEAR/ SEMESTER 2019/JULY

INTEGRATED MARINE
COURSE NAME POLLUTION CONTROL COURSE CODE LOB31603
(IMPC)

COURSE LEADER MUHAMMAD KASFFI RAMLI LECTURER MUHAMMAD KASFFI

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

TITLE/ NAME/ TYPE Individual Assignment 1 WEIGHTAGE 5%

COURSE
DATE/ DEADLINE Week 2 CLO 1
OUTCOME(S)

INSTRUCTIONS DELIVERABLES

1. As Per Attachment 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this assessment complies with the approved syllabus and latest guideline set forth by UniKL’s
Centre for Instructional Technology and Curriculum Development (CITC).

Prepared by: Verified by:

MUHAMMAD KASFFI RAMLI AZILA AYUB

_______________________________________ _________________________________________

Course Lecturer Head of Section/ Programme Coordinator

Date: Date:
STUDENT DETAILS
NOR IKLIMA MARIAM BINTI IRAMAN
NAME
56211217084 GROUP L01-T01
I/D NO.
GENERAL INSTRUCTION TO CANDIDATES TOTAL MARKS
Write ALL answers in English unless instructed otherwise.
Answers should be written in black or blue ink except for sketches, graphics,
and illustrations.
 Table of Content

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Marine Pollution ............................................................................................................................. 3

Causes of Marine Pollution ......................................................................................................... 3

MARPOL Convention................................................................................................................. 4
Types of Marine Pollution........................................................................................................... 4
Effect of Marine Pollution........................................................................................................... 6
Examples of Marine Pollution ........................................................................................................ 8

Oil spill in Tanjung Balau, Johor............................................................................................. 8

Chemical waste dumped in the river at Pasir Gudang, Johor .................................................. 9
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 11

Recommendation .......................................................................................................................... 12

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 List of Figures

Figure 1: Map of Pollution Index in mid-year 2019 ....................................................................... 1

Figure 2: Smokes discarded into the air in the industrial area ........................................................ 2
Figure 3: Air pollution from industrial factory ............................................................................... 5
Figure 4: Waste that had been thrown into the ocean affect marine life ....................................... 6
Figure 5: The oil spill clean-up in Tanjung Balau, Johor ............................................................... 8
Figure 6: Cleaning work by Department of Environment in Sungai Kim Kim, Pasir Gudang ...... 9

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Introduction

Pollution has been one of the most serious matter in the world. It is a continuous problem
that is never ending. Until today, 14 billion pounds of garbage are dumped into the ocean every
year and most of it is plastic according to National Geography. It has become a common news that
television will produced because almost every day, there must be one news that touches on the
pollution matter. The environmental issues need to be addressed on time before the after effect
become a plague that spreading even worst around the world. In the mid-year of 2019, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia has been recorded in the 99th place rank with the total of 67.70 pollution index.
Pollution can be defined in various ways but the easiest would be the process of making land,
water, air or any other part of the environment dirty and not safe.

Figure 1: Map of Pollution Index in mid-year 2019

The meaning of pollution would be the presence of matter such as solid, liquid and gas or
energy such as heat, noise and radiation whose nature, location or quantity directly or indirectly
alters the characteristics or processes of any part of the environment, and causes damage to the
condition, health, safety or welfare of animals, humans, plants and property. The term pollution

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usually conjures up images of rubbish dumps and oil slicks. Most of pollution are actually invisible
to the human eye and come in a variety of different forms. According to Pure Earth, a non-profit
environmental organization, toxic pollution affects more than 200 million people worldwide.
Generally, pollution can be categorized into a few major forms. There are land, water, air,
thermal/heat, light, noise and radioactive contamination. These are the major contributes to the
pollution that has been going on for ages to the world.

Figure 2: Smokes discarded into the air in the industrial area

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Marine Pollution

Today the world is concerned with the pollution of marine environments, that could result
in instant and long-term damages to the coastal, marine creatures and ecosystems. Marine litter,
marine garbage is among the major threats to the world’s oceans. It includes solid materials from
human that are discarded at sea or reaches the sea through waterways or domestic and industrial
outfalls. It contributes to a wide range of ecological, socio-economic and environmental impacts,
including entanglement of marine life, fouling of coastlines and interference with navigation.
Marine litter enters the seas from both land-based sources and from vessels at sea, and it comprises
a wide range of materials, such as plastics, abandoned fishing gear and various other pollutants.
There have been cases of shipping accidents, results in loss of human life from the entanglement
of propellers and rudders in marine garbage.

Causes of Marine Pollution

Pollution can enter the ocean directly, it flows through sewage, rivers, or drainages directly
into the ocean. This is often how minerals and substances from mining camps find their way into
the ocean. The release of chemical nutrients into the ocean’s ecosystem leads to reduction in
oxygen levels, the decay of plant life, a severe decline in the quality of the seawater itself. As a
result, all levels of oceanic life, plants and animal, are highly affected.

Furthermore, industrial and agricultural waste is another most common form of wastes that
are directly discharged into the oceans, resulting in ocean pollution. The dumping of toxic liquids
in the ocean directly affects the marine life as they are very dangerous and they raise the
temperature of the ocean, known as thermal pollution, as the liquid carry high temperature.
Animals and plants that cannot survive high temperatures will eventually die.

Then, shipping industry also contributed towards the causes of marine pollution pretty
badly as their route would be through the ocean. The most devastating effect caused by ships is oil
spills. Crude oil lasts for years in the sea and is extremely dangerous to marine life, it often

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suffocating marine life to death once it entraps them. The oil spills also are very difficult to clean
up.

Ocean mining in the deep sea is also another sources of pollution. Ocean mining sites
drilling for silver, gold, copper, cobalt and zinc create sulfide deposits up to three and a half
thousand meters down into the ocean. This activity caused damage to the lowest level of the ocean
and increase toxicity of the region. This permanent damage dealt also causes leaking, corrosion
and oil spills that only drastically further disturb the ecosystem of the region.

MARPOL Convention

The MARPOL Convention is the main international convention that covers the prevention
of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. Not only
that, there are a lot more convention that covers various problem in different areas of marine
pollution. MARPOL and other pollution-related conventions are more towards the control of
compliance regarding Port State Control and Flag State Control than a matter of research.

Types of Marine Pollution

The first pollution would be coming from land. Land usually become polluted by the
household garbage and by industrial waste. Currently, over 23000 tonnes of waste is produced
each day in Malaysia with less than 5% that can be recycled, according to Global Environment
Centre (GEC), a non-profit organization based in Malaysia. However, this amount is expected to
rise to 30000 tonnes by the year 2020. According to U.S Environmental Protection Agency,
Americans produced about 258 million tons of solid waste in their country more than Malaysia as
their country is way bigger. Organic material was the largest component of the garbage generated,
they mentioned. Commercial or industrial waste is a significant portion of solid waste. Most of the
waste are classified as non-hazardous, such as construction material like wood, concrete and glass.
Hazardous waste is in a form of either solid, liquid or sludge that contain properties that is
dangerous and harmful to human health and the environment. Industries generate hazardous waste

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from petroleum refining, pesticide manufacturing and chemical production. Other hazardous waste
that household can produce are paints, motor oils, aerosol cans and fluorescent lights.

Secondly, air pollution is a mix of particles and gases that can reach dangerous
concentrations both outdoor and indoor. The air that living things breathe has very exact chemical
composition; 99% is made up from nitrogen, oxygen, water vapour and inert gases. Air pollution
existed when things that are not normally there being added naturally to the air. The effect can
range from higher disease risks to rising temperature. A few examples of common for air pollutant
would be smoke, mold, pollen, methane and carbon dioxide. Poor quality of air can kill any living
creatures especially humans and animals. Bad outdoor air caused an estimated 4.2 million
premature death in 2016, according to the World Health Organization. Air pollution has been
connected to higher rates of cancer, stroke, heart disease, respiratory problem such as asthma. Not
only outside, but air pollution also existed inside the house and threaten almost to 3 billion people
who cook and heat their homes with burning biomass, kerosene and coal. Based on the study
published in the journal of Environmental Research Letters, air pollution kills more than 2 million
people each year.

Figure 3: Air pollution from industrial factory

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 Last but not least, water pollution comes from the pollution that cause the water to be dirty,
contaminated or dangerous to be used. It happens when chemicals or hazardous unusual substances
are introduced to water, including industrial waste chemicals, sewage, pesticides and fertilizers
from agricultural runoff, or metals such as lead or mercury. According to United Nations, 783
million people do not have access to clean water and around 2.5 billion do not have access to
adequate sanitation. Adequate sanitation helps to keep sewage and other contaminations from
entering the water supply. Water pollution can severely affect all marine life and will definitely
disturb the ecosystems, including human health. Rivers represent the lease of life which pulses
through the earth and it is the only source of water that everyone can get. In Malaysia, there are
almost 1800 rivers. Sadly, more than half of these rivers have been polluted and destroyed.

Figure 4: Waste that had been thrown into the ocean affect marine life

Effect of Marine Pollution

The toxic wasted into the ocean can affect marine life thoroughly. The oil spill is dangerous
to marine life in many ways. The oil spilled in the ocean could get on to the gills and body of
marine animals which makes it difficult for them to move or fly or feed. The long-term effect can

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include cancer, failure in the reproductive system, changing behavior and even death. Besides, any
spillage of chemicals into the surface of the water can prevent the sunlight from reaching to the
underwater plants such as coral reefs definitely will affect their photosynthesis process. Skin
irritation, lung and liver problems can impact marine life over a long period of time. Industrial and
agricultural wastes include various poisonous chemicals that is hazardous to the marine life. The
chemicals from pesticides can accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals and it leads to failure in
their reproductive system.

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Examples of Marine Pollution

Oil spill in Tanjung Balau, Johor

The Malaysia newspaper, New Straits Times reported the news on marine pollution that
happened recently in April 2019. Johor Marine Department detected a one-kilometer oil spill along
Tanjung Balau waters, off the coast of Johor. The newspaper mentioned that it was estimated that
300 tonnes of marine fuel had been discharged from the marine vessel. The spill covered an area
of four nautical miles from the coast. New Straits Times also quoted from Pertubuhan
Perlindungan Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) President Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil that
says the waters off Johor have become a dumping ground for ships. She mentioned that Malaysia
needs stricter laws against those that pollute the environment and also suggested a stricter patrol
of Johor waters so that such cases will be prevented.

Figure 5: The oil spill clean-up in Tanjung Balau, Johor

The area of Johor waters is near one of the busiest sea routes in the world. There are tons
of vessels from Johor to Singapore passing through the Straits of Malacca. Thus, cases of oil spills

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are not considered as hot pie when it comes to the coastal area waters of the state. Sadly, this
incident will not only give negative impact towards marine life, but also affect the fishermen’s
source of income.

Chemical waste dumped in the river at Pasir Gudang, Johor

Recently in Pasir Gudang early this year, it is reported that an illegal tyre recycling factory
had allegedly dumped chemical waste in Sungai Kim Kim, Pasir Gudang. On the following day,
several students, teachers and workers from nearest school had experienced nausea, dizziness and
vomiting. There are a total of 2775 peoples who are affected by the chemical that had been thrown
into the river. Many schools near the Pasir Gudang district were orderly to shut for safety reason.

Figure 6: Cleaning work by Department of Environment in Sungai Kim Kim, Pasir Gudang

There are between 20 to 40 tonnes of dangerous waste dumped into the river, such as,
acrylonitrile and acrolein, methane, hydrogen cyanide, toluene, xylene and limonene as reported
from the New Straits Times and Berita Harian newspaper. As the hazardous materials have been

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exposed to wind and rain, the uncontrolled airborne substances have spread and affected people
nearest the dumping area to feel the negative effect of the extremely dangerous chemicals that had
been thrown into the river.

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Conclusion

Oceans cover the earth’s surface about 71% and play an important role in the chemical
and biological balance of the life on earth. These are rich with marine resources such as minerals,
oils and marine life and the seafood supplies meet a substantial food requirement of the world’s
population. If the marine life is affected by the pollution and carried pollutants, it will give a huge
impact to the human population while consuming such resources. Hence, it is necessary to be wide
awake about the marine pollution and take actions in reducing and preventing it. The sources of
these undesirable coastal contaminants are either land-based or marine-based. Managing and
preventing or at least reducing the problems created are difficult to address as the volume of
garbage or any other forms of pollutants involved are ever increasing. That is why many parties
have taken actions in helping reducing the marine pollution before it became worst. It is also the
duty of every human being to reduce the amount of garbage created and starts on using recyclable
product to help secure the land and water from pollution.

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Recommendation

Country around the world needs to tackle various forms of pollution. As for the oil spills
matter, research units could work on the detection of oil spills at sea, containment and recovery of
floating oil at sea, detection of oil spills on land and many more. These can at least minimize the
causes of pollution and will help conserve a better world and a healthy mother nature. Marine
protected area, where fishing is prohibited can be effective in protecting and rebuilding populations
of marine species. To be even more effective, protected areas should be established for species
whose behavior depends to some degree on structure, species that live, breed, feed or take shelter
on or around the topography of the coast or the bottom of the sea. They will be more effective for
species whose entire life cycle is spent in associated with structure are largely confined to the
protected area. The design of the marine protected areas should also involve fishermen so that they
believe the resulting systems will protect their long-term interests as well.

Organizing a beach clean-up also will help a lot in term of cleaning the ocean. It is a great
way to clear-up the ocean and reduce marine pollution. Studies have shown that about 80% of
marine pollution comes from the land. So, one of the main ways to reduce marine pollution is to
get rid of rubbish carefully. If the amount of rubbish on land is being reduced, it is likely that there
will be less amount of rubbish in the ocean. Waste on land can be reduced by recycling paper,
glass, cans, and even plastic containers.

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