¹Institute of Oceanography, Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia
²Mengabang Telipot 21030, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

^*Corresponding author: atlaw@kustem.edu.my

Abstract

   Straits of Malacca and South China Sea are vulnerable to oil pollution because of the huge amount of crude oil transported through these waters annually. The present level of oil pollution in these waters is between 150-300 µg L^-1 in water and 70 -100 mg kg^-1 in sediment. Whenever there is an oil spill in the Straits of Malacca, the level of oil in water could be raised to higher than 500 µg L^-1. Crude oil, especially the aromatic hydrocarbon fraction, is highly toxic to marine organisms. The index of oil pollution for marine environments is set at 1000 µg L^-1 oil in water and 100 mg kg^-1 oil in sediment. The non-effect level of oil on organisms is about 50 µg L^-1 in the tropical sea. Toxicological studies demonstrated that the present level of oil pollution in seawater has some chronic effects on the growth and hatching rate of marine organisms. Thus, technologies are being actively pursued and developed for reducing the oil contamination in water to lower than 50 µg L^-1 to protect marine organisms. This paper will review the status of hydrocarbon pollution in the Malaysian seas and the impacts on Malaysian marine environments, as well as the techniques used to combat oil spills, and the management strategies in place to secure environmental safety in Malaysia.