T&T Salvage remind that the OPA 90 Vessel Response Plan regulatory package has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) & offers its services.
On March 9th, 2013, the OPA 90 Vessel Response Plan regulatory package outlining requirements for nontank vessels trading in U.S. waters was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), jumping the last hurdle in a process which started approximately 8 years ago. While the final rules for tankers were issued in December 2008, the nontank regulations have been slowly moving through regulatory review.
Approximately 15,000 nontank vessels will be subject to the new requirements which will undoubtedly present an administrative challenge to vessel operators, U.S. Coast Guard and resource providers alike.
The regulations, which will apply to a wide spectrum of vessels 400 gross tons or greater, come at a most challenging time for the shipowners as they continue to struggle with depressed freight rates, increased insurance costs, piracy, lack of experienced seafarers, and a general lack of appreciation from society.
“Our team is in place armed with the lessons learned from the tank vessel implementation and we are ready to assist our nontank clientele through the process”, says DeeAnn McMillen, Director, Vessel Services.
T&T Salvage, as a Primary Salvage and Marine Firefighting Resource Provider, is ready to support the nontank vessel response plan community with the goal of minimizing any administrative burden while providing the highest level of emergency response service in the industry.
With a leading nationwide OPA 90 salvage system, the largest inventory of salvage equipment in the US and a proven team of professionals, T&T Salvage is committed to providing the most flexible and efficient service in the industry. Through a strong relationship with T&T Marine Salvage, founded in 1957, T&T Salvage was formed as a standalone company designed to respond to the emergency response needs of the maritime and petrochemical industries.
T&T controls one of the largest fleets of floating salvage support assets and state of the art, portable, emergency response equipment.
Primary response bases in the Americas and Singapore coupled with strategic global partnerships allow T&T Salvage to operate one of the most extensive casualty response networks in the world.
In the United States, the pre-staging of state of the art fly-away equipment, such as firefighting systems, inert gas and nitrogen generators, ship-to-ship (STS) pumping systems and diving systems give T&T Salvage a unique fast response capability.
T&T says it has a global team of more than 600 includes Salvage Masters, Master Mariners, Marine Engineers, Naval Architects, Diving Specialists, Firefighting experts, Pumping Technicians and Lightering experts all ready to promptly respond to the challenges that face its customers.