Ecological damage compensation in oil spills: A comparative analysis of monetary valuation and ecological restoration based on the 2021 A Symphony incident

Oil spills result in significant damage to marine ecosystems, with monetary compensation and ecological restoration serving as the primary mechanisms for environmental damage remediation. This study examines the 2021 A Symphony tanker collision in the Qingdao coastal waters as a case study, comparing the outcomes of two environmental damage assessment methods: the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) for estimating monetary compensation and Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) for assessing ecological restoration. The study also explores the applicability and implementation conditions of these two approaches. The findings show that, using the CVM, the average willingness to pay for oil spill prevention programs was estimated at 192.30 Chinese Yuan (CNY) per household, leading to an inferred ecological damage value of 697 million CNY. In contrast, HEA estimates the cost of restoring damaged marine habitat services to be between 441 million and 660 million CNY. The CVM results were approximately 5.61 % higher than the upper limit and 58.05 % higher than the lower limit of the HEA estimates. Monetary compensation ensures that public environmental welfare remains unaffected, making it suitable for cases where liability is clear and the damage is irreversible. Ecological restoration, in turn, aims to maintain marine ecosystem functions at baseline levels, making it appropriate for scenarios where the damage is primarily ecological and restoration technologies are feasible. This study provides valuable insights for the ecological damage assessment of oil spills and the formulation of environmental remediation policies.