The Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995 and regulations protect Queensland's marine and coastal environment by minimising deliberate and negligent discharges of ship-sourced pollutants into coastal waters.

Under the Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995 the master of a ship must report a discharge or probable discharge of any pollutant without delay to Maritime Safety Queensland or the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Pollutants are defined as harmful substances and includes oil, chemicals, and sewage and garbage. Even minor instances of marine pollution must be reported.

The data files below contain reported marine pollution or suspected marine pollution in coastal waters.

For a full breakdown of each column in this dataset please refer to the supporting document – Field Descriptions.

marine material spillage international oceans

Regional data on marine pollution: observer pollution events. Marine pollution from ships and waste incidents per country in the Pacific region. Waste composition includes: general garbage, plastics, old fishing gears, metals, waste oils, chemicals.

An estimated ** percent of global ocean plastic waste was emitted from Asia in 2019. The second largest plastic waste emitting region was Africa, which accounted for ***** percent of ocean inputs. Huge quantities of plastic waste ends up in the ocean from rivers, especially those with nearby cities. In 2019, more than *** percent of ocean plastic pollution was emitted from the Pasig river in the Philippines, which runs through Manila.

Plastic pollution is ubiquitous throughout the marine environment, yet estimates of the global abundance and weight of floating plastics have lacked data, particularly from the Southern Hemisphere and remote regions. Here we report an estimate of the total number of plastic particles and their weight floating in the world’s oceans from 24 expeditions (2007–2013) across all five sub-tropical gyres, coastal Australia, Bay of Bengal and the Mediterranean Sea conducting surface net tows (N5680) and visual survey transects of large plastic debris (N5891). Using an oceanographic model of floating debris dispersal calibrated by our data, and correcting for wind-driven vertical mixing, we estimate a minimum of 5.25 trillion particles weighing 268,940 tons. When comparing between four size classes, two microplastic <4.75 mm and meso- and macroplastic >4.75 mm, a tremendous loss of microplastics is observed from the sea surface compared to expected rates of fragmentation, suggesting there are mechanisms at play that remove <4.75 mm plastic particles from the ocean surface.

In 2023, the Seto Inland Sea area showed, with 73 confirmed cases, the highest number of marine pollution cases, followed by Coast of Hokkaido with 69 confirmed cases. In total, 397 cases of marine pollution were confirmed in Japanese sea areas during the period.

An estimated ** percent of global plastic waste emitted to the ocean in 2019 was from the Philippines. Much of the plastic waste emitted to the ocean was from the Pasig river, which runs through the capital city Manila. Asia contributes a substantial amount of plastic waste to the world's oceans, with the top five largest emitters accounting for ** percent of plastic waste inputs in 2019.

The raster geotiff files contain the numerical model outputs for weight and count density for the four size classes investigated in the study by Eriksent et al. (2014) and expressed in order of magnitude (log10 scale).Eriksen et al. 2014Plastic Pollution in the World's Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Seahttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111913

Marine pollution originating from purse seine and longline fishing vessel operations in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, 2003-2015.

Plastics represent the vast majority of human-made debris present in the oceans. However, their characteristics, accumulation zones, and transport pathways are still poorly assessed. We characterised and estimated the concentration of marine plastics in waters around Australia using surface net tows, and inferred their potential pathways using particle-tracking models and real drifter trajectories. The 839 marine plastics recorded were predominantly small fragments (“microplastics”, median length = 2.8 mm, mean length = 4.9 mm) resulting from the breakdown of larger objects made of polyethylene and polypropylene (e.g. packaging and fishing items). Mean sea surface plastic concentration was 4256.4 pieces km-2, and after incorporating the effect of vertical wind mixing, this value increased to 8966.3 pieces km-2. These plastics appear to be associated with a wide range of ocean currents that connect the sampled sites to their international and domestic sources, including populated areas of Australia’s east coast. This study shows that plastic contamination levels in surface waters of Australia are similar to those in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Maine, but considerably lower than those found in the subtropical gyres and Mediterranean Sea. Microplastics such as the ones described here have the potential to affect organisms ranging from megafauna to small fish and zooplankton.,nettows_infoplastics_info,

In 2019, the Philippines was the largest emitter of ocean plastics in the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for 36.38 percent of the global marine plastic pollution. India followed, contributing approximately 13 percent to ocean plastic waste worldwide.

 Mismanaged plastic waste across Asia

Asian countries and territories are responsible for over 80 percent of all global plastic waste emitted to the ocean. This is a result of waste mismanagement, attributable to lacking waste collection and processing infrastructures across several countries in the region. Recycling makes up a small share of waste disposal methods used, while open dumps are the most-employed practice in Southeast Asia. As the name suggests, open dumps are mostly uncovered, leading to a higher risk of pollution of the surrounding areas and especially leakage into rivers nearby. Rivers are a major source of marine debris, and South and Southeast Asian rivers make up the largest emitters of ocean plastics worldwide. River Pasig in the Philippines accounts for over six percent of this debris.

Impact on climate and people

Asia-Pacific is the world region most vulnerable to climate change and accompanying sea-level rise due to its many islands and low-lying coastal territories. Insufficient waste management practices such as open dumps or incineration are catalysts to global warming, as the exposure of plastic debris to sunlight and heat leads to the release of greenhouse gases. Consumers in Asia have shared their various concerns regarding plastics, including their effects on the global climate as well as ocean and marine life.

Marine pollution originating from purse seine and longline fishing vessel operations in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, 2003-2015.

The data was collected by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community's Observer Programme

Tire abrasion is a major source of microplastic leakage in the environment. Of these four sources of microplastics, tires accounted for 78 percent of microplastics leakage to the ocean. Plastic production pellets were the second largest source, accounting for almost 20 percent of microplastics ocean pollution. Microplastics are small pieces of plastics with a diameter of less than five millimeters long. These microplastics are routinely ingested by marine life and have also been found in human organs, posing potential health risks.

In 2019, approximately **** percent of ocean plastic was emitted by the Pasig river in the Philippines. A significant amount of ocean plastics come from rivers in Asia, and to a lesser extent Africa. The ** largest plastic emitting rivers accounted for more than ** percent of global ocean plastic pollution in 2019. The largest plastic emitting rivers are typically in areas with poor waste management services and have cities nearby.

Currently, an estimated *** million metric tons of microplastics from tire dust, pellets, textiles, and personal care products leaks into the world's oceans annually. Under a business-as-usual scenario*, ocean pollution from these microplastic sources will increase to ***** million metric tons per year by 2040. Terrestrial pollution from these four sources of microplastics is also projected to increase by 2040, to ***** million metric tons. The amount of microplastics incinerated or sent to sanitary landfills is considerably less than the amount leaks into the environment.

The Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) program provides data and information to track Canada's performance on key environmental sustainability issues. The Marine pollution spills indicator reports the volume of marine pollution spills detected from 2010 to 2017. The indicator also presents data with respect to known sources, including volume and detections per patrol hour of aircraft surveillance. The National Aerial Surveillance Program monitors ships transiting waters under Canadian jurisdiction. The indicator provides an understanding of how active surveillance impacts the occurrence of marine pollution spills. Spills come from ship operations, intentional dumping and accidents. Aerial surveillance is widely adopted worldwide and is considered to be the most effective method for detection of marine pollution spills. The presence of surveillance aircraft acts as a deterrent by discouraging illegal discharges of pollutants at sea. The information gathered is used to enforce the provisions of Canadian legislation applicable to illegal discharges from ships. Information is provided to Canadians in a number of formats including: static and interactive maps, charts and graphs, HTML and CSV data tables and downloadable reports. See the supplementary documentation for the data sources and details on how the data were collected and how the indicator was calculated. Supplemental Information Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators - Home page: https://www.canada.ca/environmental-indicators

An estimated 9.8 million metric tons of macroplastics were leaked to oceans in 2016. Approximately 61 percent of this total came from uncollected waste, mainly through direct discards to water. Meanwhile mismanaged waste contributed 39 percent to total leakage, with 1.2 million metric tons leaked from dumpsites.

An estimated 91 million metric tons of mismanaged plastic waste is generated annually worldwide. If there are no changes to plastic-related waste treatment in the future, such as through policies, materials, or consumer behavior, annual mismanaged plastic waste generation could almost triple by 2040.

Domestic marine pollution incident statistics: Compiled from data submitted by various county and city governments, and the number of reported incidents is categorized by county and city.

Domestic marine pollution incident statistics: The number of reported incidents is divided by county and city.

In 2024, *** of the confirmed cases of marine pollution in Japan were caused by oil. In that year, the majority of confirmed marine pollution cases in Japan were recorded in the Seto Inland Sea.