Resolve Marine Group and T&T Bisso have announced their coalition for Marine Firefighting services in U.S. waters. This agreement combines both companies’ extensive firefighting infrastructure to produce overlapping coverage and higher volume firefighting capacity throughout the U.S. This coalition was crafted specifically to help tank vessel operators fully comply with the new Oil Pollution Act of 1990 regulations that will be effective on February 22, 2011.
The regulations require that all tanker and tank barge owners operating in U.S. waters update their existing USCG-approved Vessel Response Plan (VRP) with a Salvage and Marine Firefighting (SMFF) plan. Tank vessel owners must certify they have pre-contracted firefighting services, equipment, and trained response personnel. During the past three years, both RESOLVE and T&T Bisso developed comprehensive in-house firefighting response systems which include newly purchased, custom-built equipment and networks of trained maritime firefighters to meet any vessel response needs.
“These new regulations required a substantial capital investment just to meet the minimum planning requirements,” said Captain Farhat Imam, COO of RESOLVE. “When RESOLVE talked with T&T Bisso, we both agreed that meeting the minimum regulatory requirement just wasn’t enough. By combining and strategically locating our firefighting equipment – equipment owned and operated by RESOLVE and T&T Bisso -- we can assure tanker operators realistic, operational coverage for any emergency event.”
Mauricio Garrido, President of T&T Bisso: “Shipboard fires don’t occur that often, but when they do you must have the best gear and trained personnel available. The T&T Bisso-RESOLVE team achieves just that. The decision to pool resources was catalyzed by several tanker operators who opted to list both RESOLVE and T&T Bisso so as to ensure the best possible coverage and the reluctance of most public fire departments to support the tanker industry. We know that – together – T&T Bisso and RESOLVE have the most concrete and realistic coverage available.”
The RESOLVE-T&T BISSO coalition has been well-received by the USCG during their unprecedented vetting of firefighting in each and every port. This partnership is a positive outcome of the regulatory process. Neither company reduced their outlay of equipment. Instead, where a port was double-covered, equipment was moved to outlying ports to provide faster and more effective coverage. The T&T Bisso-RESOLVE coalition pre-positions 45 high-volume marine fire pumps throughout the coverage area and makes over two million gallons of firefighting foam available throughout the U.S.