Oil Spill Incident News

Namibia has hosted of a series of events addressing oil spill preparedness and response, with two back to back workshops in Swakopmund (22-24 May and 28-31 May) developed with a view to improve the national preparedness and response system in the country. A first workshop was held to provide participants with an overview of the essential skills needed to prepare for and respond to oil spills at an operational level including contingency planning and risk assessment. The second event focused on shoreline response and clean-up management plan during an oil spill incident. For example, deciding on what strategy to adopt depending on the type of oil spilled, the type of shoreline and the availability of equipment.

Monaco has acceded to the  International Maritime Organization (IMO) treaty covering emissions from ship exhausts and energy efficiency (MARPOL Annex VI). The instrument limits the main air pollutants contained in ships exhaust gas, including sulphur oxides and nitrous oxides, and prohibits deliberate emissions of ozone depleting substances. It also includes energy-efficiency measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Mrs. Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Permanent Representative of Monaco to IMO, met IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim at IMO Headquarters, London, to deposit the instrument of accession (14 May). Although air pollution from ships does not have the direct cause and effect associated with…

Berge Bulk Maritime confirms that an its VLOC (Very Large Ore Carrier)  “BERGE BUREYA” – (IMO/LR # 9297539) operated vessel was involved in an oil spill incident off Malaysia in the Malacca Strait earlier yesterday morning. There were no injuries to any crew-members and there was no grounding or involvement of any third parties. Whilst in transit between Singapore and Brazil, a quantity of oil was identified leaking from the vessel and the crew immediately enacted emergency procedures to halt the leakage and to start a prompt clean-up operation. A quantity of bunker fuel was spilled and Berge Bulk Maritime is cooperating closely with the Malaysian authorities in the management of the spill and the vessel was boomed following the incident. The oil leak was stemmed quickly.

Crowley Maritime Corporation’s tanker escort and docking services group in Valdez is celebrating over seven million man hours and more than six years since logging its last Lost Time Injury (LTI). In addition to this remarkable number, the company announced that it had not had an OSHA recordable case in over two million man hours while performing tanker assist and escort work for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. In 2015, the company logged over one million man hours while safely escorting 236 tankers through Prince William Sound…

Most people in the maritime industry in the United States are familiar with the concept of the Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO). It is one of the many quiet successes of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) and has enhanced the prompt and efficient cleanup of spills of oil and hazardous materials into waters of the United States. The curious thing about OSROs is that they are not mentioned in OPA 90. OSROs, as a recognized industry, were created following enactment of OPA…

Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) welcomed the release of the independent review of its response to the grounding of the Rena, and the announcement of $2 million of government funding to help improve New Zealand’s maritime response capability.The report, by independent reviewer Simon Murdoch, was released today by Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee.MNZ Director Keith Manch said the organization was already implementing a number of the review recommendations and the funding package would help MNZ develop a wider strategic and operational response to maritime incidents.In the review report…

Last month Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), a global oil spill response cooperative funded by more than 160 companies, opened its new base with enhanced response capabilities at Loyang in Singapore. Maritime Reporter took the opportunity to speak with Robert Limb, OSRL Chief Executive, regarding the significance of OSRL’s expansion. The opening of the base last month in Singapore was touted as a milestone event for the maritime and oil and gas industries in the Asia Pacific region…

Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), the global oil spill response cooperative funded by more than 160 environmentally responsible oil and energy companies, announces the opening of a new base with enhanced response capabilities at Loyang in Singapore. The opening of the base in the Asia Pacific region brings together personnel and equipment resources in a single place so as to deliver an integrated, swift and effective response to an emergency oil spill incident. In addition, regional…

Tests by Parat Halvorsen on oil spill response equipment (OSR) for offshore supply vessels reveal significant deficiencies with systems using hot water coils. Norway's Parat Halvorsen undertook a series of trials after a number of lower cost hot water coil alternatives came on the market the market. Any spilled oil is recovered by OSR-equipped vessels and stored in tanks until it can be delivered to recovery stations on land. The recovered oil has to be heated to maintain a sufficient viscosity for offloading. Parat Halvorsen offers a heating solution based on steam injection from a boiler onboard. It has supplied equipment to a significant number of OSVs delivered by yards including Havyard, STX Norway, Kleven and Ulstein.

Andrew Altendorf is the CEO and majority owner of Acme Environmental Inc. Acme’s history spans almost 50 years and the firm is recognized as a pioneer in the manufacture of oil spill containment booms and other oil spill recovery items. A U.S. Coast Guard classified OSRO, Acme and Altendorf support numerous customers in Oklahoma and the Midwest with their emergency response. He has been the President of the Spill Control Association of America since November of 2010. Prior to taking the reins as President, he served on the SCAA Board of Directors for 5 years.

The Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) announced that it has completed its Gulf of Mexico expansion program, known as Deep Blue. The new response capabilities created under this program are now ready to respond to an oil spill incident, if and when necessary. The key objectives of this expansion program include increasing the effectiveness of mechanical recovery through expanding the number of dedicated oil spill response and recovery platforms in the Gulf of Mexico; increasing the ability to utilize commercial Platform Supply Vessels (PSVs) and Multi-Purpose Support Vessels (MPSVs) to reinforce MSRC’s existing dedicated platforms…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL, President: Koichi Muto) today announced the completion of a table top drill based on the scenario of the MOL-owned and operated bulk carrier Mona Linden being involved in a collision that resulted in flooding and oil spill off Takamatsu, Inland sea, Japan. The drill involved about 60 participants including executives from MOL and MOL Group companies. The three-hour drill, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, was aimed at strengthening MOL's…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. announced that the company has completed a practice drill based on the scenario of its training ship Spirit of MOL being involved in a collision, fire, and oil spill incident just off Manila on February 18. Following is an outline of the drill, which involved about 60 participants from the Tokyo Head Office and MOL Group companies. Beginning on the afternoon of Thursday, February 18, the drill was intended to strengthen the foundation of social responsibility laid out in the MOL Group Corporate Principles protecting the environment by maintaining strict…

Two Coast Guard small boats set a security zone around the 900-foot container ship Cosco Busan. The ship hit the San Francisco Bay Bridge Nov. 7, 2007 spilling an estimated 58,000 gallons of oil into the bay.(U.S. City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court, under the State's Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act and other state laws, against the parties responsible for the November 7 oil spill incident in the San Francisco Bay. In that incident, the M/V Cosco Busan, a 65,131-ton, 900-ft.

Good planning, and not super high technology is the key to fighting tanker oil spills, Ian White, managing director of London-based International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd. said last week. "There are technological limitations as to what you can do (to control oil spills). He said in a speech most spills from tankers occurred during routine operations such as loading, discharging and bunkering. But bigger spills involving more than 700 tons have resulted from collisions and groundings, he said. "You can use booms and skimmers to concentrate the oil, pick it up and remove it, but it tends to be quite inefficient, especially if the weather is not good," White said.

Following the latest oil spill incident off of France, the EU has said it will study ways in which to clamp down on unsafe oil tankers. The EU executive plans to publish a report on potential improvements to safety regulations, as well as force flag of convenience states to crackdown on substandard boats. While the EU recognizes that the problem is an international one, it seems unwilling to tolerate anymore breaches of its treasured coastlines.