Oil Spill Management News

The Regional Clean Sea Organization (RECSO), an oil industry co-operative organisation in the Middle East, has hosted First RECSO Enviro Spill Conference and Exhibition.In delivering the keynote speech at the opening ceremony, Abdulhakim A. Al-Gouhi, vice president of Industrial Services with Saudi Aramco, called on members to collaborate to protect the pristine Gulf environment through prevention, preparedness, and response.“We come together to demonstrate our unlimited commitment toward protecting the marine environment from any harmful effects of pollution, in general, and of oil spills in particular,” said Al-Gouhi.He noted that Saudi Aramco demonstrated its expertise in oil spill mitigation at the height of the Gulf War in 1991…

Myanmar is the latest country to benefit from International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s work to enhance marine oil spill preparedness and response in the ASEAN region.A press note from the UN agency informed that a training course for senior officials and members of the national oil spill management team is taking place in Yangon, Myanmar (12-14 November).The training is focused on the effective response to oil spills, including on both managing risks from shipping and incident management. It builds on on-going efforts by the Myanmar National Task Force for the development of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan, which is reaching finalization.The training course coincides with the completion of the plan…

The Japanese Shipowners' Association (JSA) and the Norwegian Shipowners' Association (NSA) organised a bilateral high-level maritime round table conference in Tokyo on 20 May 2005. The round table was attended by the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry and the Japanese Assistant Vice-Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, high-level representatives of Class NK and Det Norske Veritas Classification as well as the presidents of JSA and NSA. Japanese and Norwegian interests control two of the world’s largest merchant fleets. The conference aimed at reinforcing already strong ties between the shipping communities of the two countries…

Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Buzzards Bay, Mass., offers a variety of STCW and specialized training programs for the maritime industry. Two of these programs are especially unique in their respective focus on maritime safety. One fosters prevention of maritime accidents, while the other addresses response measures that need to be taken once a maritime accident occurs. The academy’s new Shiphandling Training Program in Manned Models is designed to provide pilots and ship’s officers with a better understanding of the art of shiphandling during a 5-day course of instruction and practical underway maneuvers in scale model replica ships at a training site comprised of buoyed channels, docks and anchorages.

The evolution of podded propulsion systems has gained steam in recent years, as a number of notable new systems have entered the market with new options. The era of podded propulsion is here and now, and despite some technical glitches with the systems - notably faster than anticipated bearing wear - it is safe to assume that the system's popularity will only grow with experience. Pods, obviously, are not the single solution for every marine application. As with any other technology, limitations exist. However, podded propulsion solutions have opened more marine technological avenues than they have closed as Harri Kulovaara, senior vice president of fleet operations and newbuilding…

PCCI, Inc. conducted oil spill management training for 18 senior executives participating in the Special American Business Internship Training Program (SABIT) on November 1, 2002. The participating executives came from oil, pipeline, and ecological companies located in Russia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. This is the third time that PCCI has provided training for the SABIT program of the U.S. Department of Commerce. PCCI provided the visiting delegation with comprehensive training in the areas of spill preparedness, evaluating and procuring oil spill response equipment, and oil spill response readiness.