The Marine Department of Thailand will host the 39th Maritime Transport Working Group (MTWG) Meeting, to be held virtually, on 27 Aug 2020.
IMO is supporting the Government of Mauritius by providing technical advice on oil spill response issues and in the coordination of assistance.
IMO has issued the calendar of meetings for September-December 2020, setting dates for remote sessions of the IMO Council and Committees.
An open letter to delegations of the IOPC Funds’ governing bodies regarding the working arrangements and plans for the IOPC Funds’ Secretariat was published, as it continues to work remotely.
The agenda discussed at the RFC Technical Meeting includes: updates on SOP for the implementation of Joint Oil Spill Combat in the Straits of Malacca Strait and Singapore; experience and information regarding the MoU on Oil Spill Tariff between the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF); RFC Logo Design competition; and development of the RFC Website (unofficial translation provided by 'google').
The Malaysia Marine Department and Department of Environment, Malaysia jointly hosted the Revolving Fund Committee (RFC) Technical Meeting , held virtually in view of the COVID-19 Pandemic (unofficial translation provided by 'google').
The 1992 Fund is liable to pay compensation as claims arising from the incident exceed the 1992 CLC limit applicable; however, all payments are recovered from the shipowner’s insurer, the Shipowner’s Club, under the Small Tanker Oil Pollution Indemnification Agreement (STOPIA) 2006. The successful cooperation between the Club and the IOPC Funds is extremely beneficial in administering the agreements and regime efficiently.
The total compensation payable for the Hebei Spirit incident under the 1992 Conventions (SDR 203 million) was fixed by the 1992 Fund’s Executive Committee in March 2008 at KRW 321.6 billion. The 1992 Civil Liability Convention limitation amount (SDR 89.77 million) was fixed by the Limitation Court at KRW 139.4 billion in November 2018.
Drawing on a wealth of experience responding to incidents worldwide, the guide helps all parties potentially involved to plan, prepare for, and be ready to implement a shoreline response programme which can be scaled to any incident and suitably manage the complex issues involved.
Organised by the IMO, this year's campaign calls on governments to take action and formally recognise seafarers as key workers.
As a precautionary measure, the IOPC Funds’ Secretariat has been working remotely since 12 March 2020. A number of other activities planned for the year have regrettably been postponed or cancelled. This includes the IOPC Funds Short Course which was due to take place in June
On World Oceans Day, Kitack Lim, Secretary-General, International Maritime Organization (IMO) invites a celebration of the majesty, beauty and sheer wonder of our oceans and the ships that ply their trade on them.
IPIECA joins the United Nations in celebrating the role of oceans in Earth’s biosphere and the critical resources it provides for livelihoods and communities around the world.
IPIECA joins the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in recognising the essential role of nature, in supporting life on Earth and the challenging demands human development places on its ecosystems.
As coronavirus continues to impact every corner of the globe, the oil and gas industry is committed to ensuring the wellbeing of the communities where they operate, and the health and safety of their workers as they continue to provide the world with the power it needs.
The IMO has announced that meetings which were scheduled to be held in July have now been postponed. However, work has begun to prepare for a revised meeting programme for the remainder of 2020.
A recap by IOGP on the industry's commitment to transparency and candour, and strengthen the ability to deal with any major incident, a decade after the incident.
With growing concerns about the health of the planet, this year, Earth Day focuses on the challenges and opportunities related to climate change.
IPIECA Executive Director Brian Sullivan reflects on the importance of remembering this tragedy, and the lasting legacy of industry collaboration and commitment to continuous improvement in oil spill preparedness and response.
A decision was made to shift the triennial events by one year, to allow for IOSC to occur in 2021. This follows the cancellation of IOSC 2020, May 11 – 14 in New Orleans, LA, USA; IOSC 2021 will now take place May 10 – 13, in its original host city of New Orleans.
ITOPF has published its annual Handbook for 2020/21.
A discussion on the draft of the Minister of Transportation's revised Regulation on the Prevention of Maritime Environmental Pollution (PM29) was held at the Hotel Santika Premier Bintaro, South Tangerang, Banten, from 4 to 6 Mar 2020.
The IMO has announced further meeting postponements, in addition to those already announced previously.
The Review looks at IPIECA’s key achievements during 2019. It also looks back at some of the key milestones throughout its 45 years of history.
GISEA supported PEMSEA to deliver a Sub-regional Training Workshop on Oil Spill Response Planning and Readiness Assessment, under the Framework Programme for Joint Oil Spill Preparedness and Response in the Gulf of Thailand.
Sulphur 2020, a free e-learning course on the compatibility and cold-flow properties of marine fuels, provides a step by step explanation of complex issues involved in bunkering very low sulphur fuel oils.
The report provides details of the main activities and achievements of the IOPC Funds in 2019, as well as key figures in relation to expenditure, reports of contributing oil received and contributions levied.
The meeting of the IOPC Funds’ governing bodies, which was due to be held from Wed, 11 to Friday, 13 March 2020, will be postponed.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance the country’s capability to respond to oil spill this morning.
Held from 3 to 5 Feb 2020, the workshop prepared the Oil Spill Response Team of the Marine Department to mitigate oil pollution in the waters of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Malacca.
The plan serves to tackle several oil spill possibilities, such as spills from oil tankers, spills due to broken pipelines and spills at oil refinery factory, among others.
The 2020 IOPC Funds’ Short Course will take place from Monday, 8 June to Friday, 12 June at the Funds’ headquarters in London
Three spills in 2019, of size 7 tonnes or more, is the lowest recorded for any particular year in the last five decades.
A national workshop in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam (26-29 November), brought together 40 participants from 10 government entities, and the oil and gas and shipping industry to to further develop Viet Nam’s national oil spill contingency plan. The workshop was organised under the framework of the Global Initiative project for Southeast Asia (GISEA).
The Ministry of Transportation, through the Directorate General of Sea Transportation (DGAT), held a National Command and Control Center Forum (PUSKODALNAS) for the Management of Oil Spill Emergency Management at sea, in Jakarta, from 12 - 14 Nov 2019.
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.
A National Workshop on Claims and Compensation was organised by the Malaysian government from 17 to 19 Sep. The workshop addressed issues which arose from the cleanup of oil which was spilt following the collision between APL DENVER/ WAN HAI 301 in 2017.
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.
IPIECA's Executive Director, Brian Sullivan, acknowledges IPIECA's contribution to advances in industry performance over it's 45 year history.
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.
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 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.
Maritime and Coastguard Agency issued the updated guidelines for ports to ensure a co-ordinated local and national response to an oil spill
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 Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan (ROSCP), developed under the Memorandum of Understanding on ASEAN Cooperation Mechanism for Joint Oil Spill Preparedness and Response, 2014 (ASEAN MOU) was formally adopted in the 24th ASEAN Transport Ministers (ATM) Meeting on 8 November 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Refer to the Regional Information page for more details.
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.