Public attention to severe incidents, such as collisions, groundings, fires and explosions, has led to improved safety regulations for sea transportation. However, unexpected incidents do occur. The grounding of the Exxon Valdez, which released more than 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaskan waters in Prince William Sound in March 1989, was one of the worst environmental disasters of modern times (NAP [1]). Similarly, the grounding accidents of the Sea Empress in 1996 at the Southeast Wale and the Prestige off Galicia, Northwest Spain, in 2002 resulted in adverse consequences.