Wang, YebaoLiu, XinYu, XiangZheng, Xiangyang2018-03-152212-4209http://hdl.handle.net/1885/141397Various oil spill response facilities and their quantities for twelve major harbors, which are responsible for eight response zones in the Bohai Sea, were investigated using a questionnaire. Four maps were produced to show the actual distribution of response capabilities including the efficiency of oil skimmers, quantity of booms, sorbent materials and vessels. The expected response capabilities for skimmers and booms were calculated and compared with the reality. For skimmers responding to potential spill accidents, there was a large gap between the existing response capability and the expected response capability in most response zones. An increase in the quantity of oil skimmers is therefore recommended to mitigate the harmful effects of future large oil spills caused by potential ship grounding accidents in Response Zones 1, 2, 4 and 5. For booms, Response Zone 1 was found to be the least sufficient, whereas Response Zones 3 and 6 were overprepared.This work was supported by the NSFC41371483 grant from the National Natural Science Fund of China.application/pdfhttp://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/2212-4209/..."Author's post-print on open access repository after an embargo period of between 12 months and 48 months" from Sherpa/Romeo site (as at 15/03/2018)Oil spill response capabilitiesShip-related oil spillsPotential spill volumeExpected response capabilitiesThe Bohai Sea2018-03-1210.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.02.040