Management of marine pollution incidents for a sustainable ocean, based on assessing the sensitivity of marine environments

Marine oil pollution incidents pose growing threats to coastal ecosystems, economies, and human wellbeing, yet existing preparedness tools remain largely confined to shoreline-focused, oil-specific indices with limited scope. This study develops a comprehensive sensitivity assessment methodology for marine pollution incident management and applies it to the entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Korea. We identified seven categories of pollution-sensitive resources—shorelines, biological species, habitats, protected areas, fisheries, tourism, and industrial resources—based on international precedent, resource characteristics and value, and data availability. Each resource was evaluated for seasonal sensitivity at 300 m × 300 m grid resolution using resource-specific criteria (e.g., ESI grade for shorelines, biological activity period for species, economic value for fisheries and tourism assets), standardized to a common five-point scale. Expert-based Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) weighting was applied to integrate individual resource sensitivities into a composite sensitivity index. Results show that sensitivity peaks in spring, when protected species arrive to breed and algal and shellfish resources are most active, and is spatially concentrated in the Yellow Sea, where sensitive resources are densely distributed. This sensitivity assessment underpins an operational, sensitivity-based marine pollution risk forecast—combining meteorological conditions, incident history, vessel traffic, and pollutant transport volume—demonstrating the policy applicability of the framework. More broadly, the framework can support the identification of priority areas for protection and response, informing more effective preparedness and response strategies for marine pollution incidents and contributing to sustainable ocean management.