Oil spill accidents can be caused by several risk factors associated to maritime transport and port activities, which
cannot always be predicted or controlled. Therefore, it is essential to support prevention and contingency plans,
whose effectiveness is crucial to produce adequate responses and minimize resulting impacts.
Ria de Aveiro (Portugal) is a wide coastal lagoon, within a densely populated area, representing a concentration of
important biodiversity resources and several economic activities. This paper presents alternative methodologies
to support the optimization of civil protection assets in the occurrence of oil spill events and the results of their
application on a section area of the Aveiro Lagoon, using an established geographic information system database
containing crucial data.
The presented methodologies are based on the Environmental Sensitivity Index developed by the North
American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA) and the Global Vulnerability Index which
were applied on the Bay of Biscay (Spain). However, during the development of this work, neither of these
methodologies was considered to entirely assess the study area in its full extent, which led to the need to
adapt and define a bespoke approach. The introduced changes include extra categories in shoreline classification,
an adapted physical vulnerability index for coastal lagoons, differentiated aspects for highly protected status
areas, qualitative assessment of socioeconomic features and an access and operability index created to support
emergency operation response.
The resulting maps are the subject of analysis, in which considerations regarding control and cleanup methods
are introduced, together with guidelines for further integration in local risk management strategies.