The governing bodies of the IOPC Funds held sessions from Monday 28 to Thursday 31 October 2019 at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, UK.
IOSC 2020 scholarships are intended to support those whose attendance would enhance the oil spill preparedness, response and restoration community, body of knowledge and experience, across a broad range of perspectives. Scholarships are need-based and awarded to applicants only after review and approval by the IOSC 2020 Scholarship Committee.
Organised by the Myanmar Nautical Association (MNA), Maritime Conference Myanmar 2019 will be held in Yangon, on 6-7 Nov 2019.
The Inter-agency exercise was held as a post-conference event on the last day of ICOPCE 2019, and participated by 150 personnel from 20 agencies.
Organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the biennial event brings together stakeholders from various government agencies and the industry.
The Cooperation Forum (CF) is an annual meeting under the framework of Cooperative Mechanism on Safety of Navigation and Environment Protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, carried out in rotation by the 3 Littoral States of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
A National Workshop was held in Bangkok, from 24 - 27 Sep, to support the effort to update and enhance the oil spill contingency plan of Thailand, in light of lessons from recent oil spill incidents, and anticipated changes in legislation.
A workshop was held in Manila, Philippines, from 17 - 20 Sep, to equip trainers from 5 ASEAN Member States with the necessary skills to effectively deliver training on emergency response, preparation and planning, based on the IMO OPRC Model Courses, within their jurisdictions.
Organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the conference will be held on 22-23 Oct 2019; a chemical spill response exercise, 'ChemSpill' will be conducted in tandem.
The 12th Co-operation Forum (CF), 44th Tripartite Technical Experts Group (TTEG) Meeting, and 12th Project Coordination Committee (PCC) Meeting will be held in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, from 30 Sep - 3 Oct 2019.
IPIECA's Executive Director, Brian Sullivan, acknowledges IPIECA's contribution to advances in industry performance over it's 45 year history.
The National Workshop serves to support the review and update of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan.
A 'Consignment Discussion Meeting on the Ratification of the 1990 OPRC Convention' was held at the SwissBellin Kemayoran Hotel, Jakarta, on 30 Aug 2019; this marked an important step towards accession to the convention.
Vice Admiral (VADM) Rolando Legaspi died from cardiac arrest on Wednesday, August 21. A decorated officer, VADM Legaspi served as chief of the PCG’s Marine Environmental Protection Command (MEPCOM), Surface Support Force, and Education and Training Command.
The Rayong Oil Spill Exercise 2019 (ROSE 19) took place on 20-21 Aug at the Map Ta Phut Rayong Industrial Land (RIL), Rayong Province, Thailand.
IPIECA and a number of shipping, refining, fuel supply and standards organizations have worked together to produce Joint Industry Guidance on the supply and use of 0.50%-sulphur marine fuel.
A regional workshop in Pulau Indah, Port Klang, Malaysia (19-21 August) brought together officials from states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to help bring into operation the Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan, which was adopted in 2018.
A national workshop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (6-9 August) brought together 60 participants from 20 government entities and oil companies to work towards an action plan to finalise and implement the national oil spill contingency plan. The workshop was organised under the framework of the Global Initiative project for Southeast Asia (GISEA).
The Offshore Patrol Vessel, which will be commissioned in the PCG service as Barko Republika ng Pilipinas (BRP) Gabriela Silang, is capable of ocean voyage and operations in rough-sea conditions. It will carry containerised anti-pollution equipment onboard, to respond to marine pollution incidents.
The Marine Department of Malaysia will host the Regional Workshop on ASEAN Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan (ROSCP) Workshop and 1st Focal Points Meeting.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore will host ASEAN Member States and Dialogue Partners at the 38th Maritime Transport Working Group (MTWG) Meeting to be held in Singapore, from 21-23 Aug 2019.
The National Workshop serves to support the development of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan.
The first 'Train-the-Trainer' course, targeted at trainers responsible to deliver OPRC IMO Model Courses within their administrations in ASEAN, is now rescheduled to be held in Manila, from 17 - 20 Sep 2019.
The multilateral biennial Maritime Pollution Exercise will see participation and involvement of stakeholders from the oil industry, representing a common interest to prevent oil spills and mitigate their impact. In addition to observing the exercise, GISEA will support the Philippine Coast Guard in the delivery of a seminar encompassing topics on shoreline assessment operation, and liability and compensation.
The exercise will be held in Davao, Philippines, from 1 to 5 Jul, based on the Sulu-Sulawesi Oil Spill Response Network Plan, and in the spirit of the ASEAN Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan.
The new guidance document aims to assist practitioners in identifying steps necessary for the oil and gas industry when negotiating and structuring agreements with communities.
The document summarises the work achieved by IMO and IPIECA under the Global Initiative (GI) programme.
A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines the effects and efficacy of using dispersants in marine oil spill response.
The biennial subregional marine pollution exercise (MARPOLEX) between Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines will be happening at Davao City, Philippines from 1-5 July, 2019.
The first 'Train-the-Trainer' course for OPRC IMO trainers for Southeast Asia region has been postponed to 10-13th September 2019.
Malaysian Marine Department of Sarawak Conducts Oil Spill Training Course Series 1/2019 at Marina and Muara Tebas offices.
Maritime and Coastguard Agency issued the updated guidelines for ports to ensure a co-ordinated local and national response to an oil spill
IMO and GISEA with support from the Philippines as the host country, will organise the first Train-the-Trainer session for OPRC IMO trainers in Southeast Asia region.
ITOPF 2018 Tanker Oil spill statistics were published on 10 January 2019. The number of oil spills involving tankers remains low with three spills of over 700 tonnes, and three medium spills (7–700 tonnes) reported in 2018.
For more information, visit ITOPF website at the link provided.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) has issued a circular to regulate marine oil spill cleanup and recovery efforts.
Under the circular, an initial and preliminary investigation and assessment on the level of pollution will be made within the first 10 days after an oil spill is reported. If the investigation shows the level of oil in the water is higher than national standards, a more detailed assessment on environmental damage will be completed within 20 days after the preliminary investigation results. The detailed assessment result will be used to classify the oil spill’s impact on the environment.
More details available at the link below.
In 2018, unmanned systems have been tested in several countries by several leading companies. Read about the exciting and new technologies currently being tested around the globe to ensure safer oil spill responses and improved monitoring effectiveness from the article below.
Director General of Sea Transportation recently organised a Forum on National Command and Control Center for Emergency Relief Operations and Marine Oil Spill in Jakarta on 12th December 2018.
The Forum aims to exchange information from various agencies under the National Team (PUSKODALNAS) to support the implementation of a coordinated system for managing oil spill emergencies in the country.
A new winterized version of an established spill recovery system has passed initial trials for operations in Arctic environments, demonstrating its ability to soak up oil in icing conditions.
Details available in the full article from the Link below.
Interesting article on about the industry's preparation on for the Sulphur Cap 2020.
UK's NovaSAR-1, the first Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite can be used to detect oil spills as well as suspicious shipping activity.
Read more from the link below.
The National Contact Points of the Gulf of Thailand Cooperation on Partnerships in Oil Spill Preparedness and Response has agreed for the finalisation of the Sub-regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan for the Gulf of Thailand and adoption scheduled in November 2019.
The Indonesian government, through the Directorate General of Sea Transportation, and the Australian Government, through the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Transboundary Marine Pollution Preparedness and Response.
Indonesia and Australia have discussed this MoU since 2016 to develop a stronger understanding, between the two countries, in the fields of preparedness, prevention, response and mitigation to combat marine pollution. It will replace the 1996 MoU between the two countries concerning Prevention and Control of Oil Pollution.
Practical oil spill response exercise 2018 was held in Tg. Balau beach, Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia. The exercise was attended by officers from the Marine Department Malaysia, Department of Environment, Department of Marine Parks of Malaysia, Johor Port Authority and Malaysia Civil Defence Force.
IMO recently conducted an intensive 5-day workshop for lawyers and legislative drafters to support the drafting of domestic implementing legislation of IMO treaties. It provides the participants with the tools they need to understand IMO treaties and how they are developed and adopted. The most recent such workshop was held at IMO Headquarters from 1 - 5 October 2018.
For more details, visit IMO website.
IMO organised a four-day workshop in Bali, Indonesia (18-21 September) provided lawyers, policy makers and legislative drafters with a meaningful insight into IMO processes and procedures in developing international rules and examining how to effectively implement IMO conventions into domestic legislation.
For more information, visit IOPC's website from link below.
The UK government will publish the UK national standard for marine oil spill response organisations on the 24th September 2018. The document outlines the standards to be met by organisations delivering Tier 2 response services in the UK.
For details on this standard, please see the link from GOV.UK.
Spillcon 2019 will bring together local, regional and global environmental and shipping representatives across industry, government and non-government organisations to provide an avenue to discuss issues including cause and prevention, preparedness, response management and environmental issues. A raft of high calibre national and international speakers will address the conference on their particular areas of expertise. Visit their website for more details.