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Oil Spill Disaster News

05 May 2023

UN Fails to Raise Funds to Remove Oil from Decaying Tanker Off Yemen's Coast

©Boskalis (File image)

The United Nations on Thursday fell far short of raising the money it needs for an operation to salvage 1.1 million barrels of oil from a decaying vessel moored off Yemen's coast and avert an environmental disaster.U.N. officials have been warning for years that the Red Sea and Yemen's coastline was at risk as the Safer tanker could spill four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.The war in Yemen suspended maintenance operations on the Safer in 2015. The U.N. has warned its structural integrity has significantly deteriorated and it is at risk of exploding.Deputy U.N.

20 Apr 2023

Preventing Oil Spill Disaster: Boskalis to Lead UN-coordinated Operation to Remove Oil From Decaying FSO off Yemen

©Boskalis

Dutch marine services firm Boskalis has, through its subsidiary SMIT Salvage, reached an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to remove the oil from the decaying FSO Safer moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast in a push to avoid environmental disaster. This project is a part of the UN-coordinated operation to remove and transfer more than one million barrels of oil from the decaying tanker into a safe modern tanker and the responsible disposal of the Safer.

30 Oct 2018

IOPC Funds Is Now 40!

The International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC) have provided help in 150 oil spill incidents since its inception in 1978. Denmark has been a member of these crucial organisations since the beginning.According to a release from Danish Maritime Authority (DMA), IOPC-funds began with the Torrey Canyon oil spill disaster in 1967, which clearly demonstrated the need for an effective international regime to pay for the massive damage caused by major oil spills.Director, Maritime Regulation and Legal Affairs in the DMA, Kristina Ravn, said: “Oil spills occur from time to time and that’s why the IOPC-funds remain important, ensuring due compensation for the victims.

01 Aug 2018

Hull Cleaning Robot Aids Oil Spill Response

Photo: Fleet Cleaner

After the recent oil spill disaster of the Bow Jubail in the Port of Rotterdam, Fleet Cleaner has stepped up to help the authorities with cleaning ship’s hulls which were fouled by the heavy fuel oil, in order to minimize the environmental impact. Within record time, Fleet Cleaner has transformed its installation to an oil spill response vessel; by installing specialized heating equipment, the high pressure water cleaning robot was made ready for high pressure steam cleaning.

17 Mar 2017

Jal Marg Vikas Project Takes Off in India

The Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) on National Waterway-1 (NW-1) is being implemented with the financial and technical support of the World Bank. The Project envisages preparation of Disaster Management Plan (DMP) and Emergency Management Plan (EMP) to take care of activities like navigation, terminal and jetty operation, oil spill, disaster contingency, etc. after the commissioning of the project and while operating cargo and passenger vessels on NW-1. The Project entails development of fairway with 3 meters depth between Varanasi and Haldia (Phase-I) covering a distance of 1380 km at an estimated cost of Rs. 5369 crore (USD 821 million) with target for completion in six years.

09 Feb 2017

New Bill to Enrol Non-Mechanical Propelled Vessels in India

Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) being implemented with technical and financial assistance of the World Bank envisages preparation of Disaster Management Plan (DMP) and Emergency Management Plan (EMP) to take care of the activities like navigation, terminal & jetty operation, oil spill, disaster contingency etc. after the commissioning of the project and while operating cargo and passengers vessels on National Waterway-1 (NW-1). The mechanically propelled inland vessels are governed by the Inland Vessels Act, 1917 (1 of 1917) and rules framed by State Governments have provisions for Life Saving Appliances to be kept on board. The registration of inland mechanically propelled vessels by the State Government is also mandatory.

04 Feb 2017

Chennai Oil Spill: DG Shipping Institutes Inquiry

Days after the unexpected cargo ships collision outside the Kamarajar Port in Chennai (Tamil Nadu State, India), the Directorate General (DG) of Shipping has instituted an inquiry regarding the same. Two vessels namely, M.T. BW Maple carrying LPG and M.T. Dawn Kanchipuram carrying Petrol and lube oil, collided while crossing each other at 03.45AM on January 28 outside the Kamrajar harbour. The Shipping Minister Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan in Chennai today to take stock of Clean Up Operations, says a statement from the Press Information Bureau, Government of India. The Oil Tanker, Dawn Kanchipuram, which was carrying 32813 Tonnes of POL, suffered a rupture which led to engine oil spill (and not the POL being carried as cargo). There was no casualty or injury to the crew members.

02 Sep 2014

Vard Orders Parat Electric Steam & Hot Water Boilers

During the last month, PARAT Halvorsen AS has collected four new boiler plant orders from the Vard Group and their multipurpose platform ships of Vard 1 08 design. Part of and included in PARAT’s scope of supply will be combined electric steam and hot water boilers with capacity each of 1,250kW. In normal operation, the boiler is a part of the hot water and heat recovery loop and supplies necessary additional heat to the HVAC, sanitary and tank heating systems on board. If an oil spill disaster should occur, the boiler will be remobilized to run as a steam boiler.

25 Mar 2013

Shipbuilding: DDW's Future is Bright

During the past two years Drydocks World (DDW) has suffered from the restraints of a financial problem following the purchase of one shipyard in Singapore and one on the Indonesian island of Batam (both former Pan United shipyards) and two more on Batam (both former Leroy shipyards). This debt has now been restructured and the management of those yards has been taken over by China’s Paxocean, thus leaving DDW is a much better state and looking forward to a better future. The main yard of DDW is Drydocks World – Dubai (DDW-D)…

17 May 2012

BP Oil Spill Claims Process Still Causes Frustration

New Orleans has a new court monitored program that will be replacing the GCCF to administor the BP settlement to claimants. Danziger & De Llano partner Paul Danziger notes that inquiries from those directly affected by the disaster remain at a high volume. "This is first and foremost about the families and businesses which continue to be affected by the BP Oil spill disaster and its legacy," says Danziger. "The pressing need for many affected families and businesses is to finally receive just compensation and put it to use in restoring their lives. The New Orleans program is now active, but some claimants have legitimate reason to feel they've been forgotten or shortchanged in the rush to close the ledgers.

07 Jun 2010

Plan to Employ Veterans to Build Oil Spill Response Boats

On June 8th, 2010, Congressman Bob Filner (San Diego, CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, will announce a plan to create a program to hire unemployed Veterans to build specially designed boats with patented technologies designed for cleaning up oil spills, for help with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster. The technology is patented by a French company, ECOCEANE, which is connected to the family of actor David Charvet. Charvet is a member of the Blue Seals Board of Directors. Also to be announced is a mission to bring the Blue Seals rapid response team of conservation experts, Charvet and his fiancee actress Brooke Burke to Louisiana to aid in the Gulf Coast Oil Spill cleanup efforts.

21 Aug 2009

USARC Calls for Arctic Oil Spill Research

The U.S. Arctic Research Commission believes that the U.S. needs a robust research program to address spill response in broken ice, as shipping moves into the Arctic Ocean and offshore oil drilling - in several Arctic nations - moves forward. Mead Treadwell, chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, prepared testimony for the August 20 field hearing in Anchorage of the U.S. Senate's Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Treadwell told the committee that, contrary to laws passed by Congress after the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster in 1989, a significant national oil spill research program does not exist, nor is one planned to fit the special needs of the Arctic. It was anticipated that the U.S.

14 Jul 2000

ABS Introduces SafeShip

Scrutiny surrounding the carriage of cargo at sea, particularly on the quality of tonnage enlisted to transport potentially hazardous materials, is higher than ever. In the wake of high-profile disasters such as Erika, which left not only beaches and water but the reputation of many in the shipping industry soiled, leading companies usually step up. This is the case with the American Bureau of Shipping, one of the handful of highly regarded classification societies in the world. At the recent Posidonia exhibition, ABS introduced SafeShip, a program designed to apply advanced technology to reduce risk in the design, construction and maintenance of a new and safer generation of cost-efficient vessels.

03 Oct 2000

EU Calls For Single-Hull Phase Out

European Union governments on Monday called for single-hull oil tankers to be phased out as part of their response to the Erika oil spill disaster. The EU wants to ban single-hull vessels like the Erika which ran aground off the northern French coast in December 1999 spilling some 8,000 tons of fuel oil into the sea to be banned at the latest by 2012. Transport ministers from the 15 EU countries agreed their common stance on Monday morning, in time to influence negotiations on the controversial ships at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) this week.

08 Nov 2000

World Single Hull Tanker Phase-Out Is Coming

More than a decade after the U.S. enacted OPA '90, much to the consternation of the vessel design and owning community, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has taken the first formal step towards a global phase-out of single hull tankers. The similarities between the action taken by the U.S. — action that was roundly panned outside of the States due to the fact that it was not undertaken under the auspices of the international community — and the recent action at IMO are uncannily familiar; both actions coming in the wake of a high-profile oil spill disaster. The action at IMO was pushed forward vigilantly by the European Union in a determined effort to ensure that accidents such as the Erika…

12 Nov 1999

Why Comply?

Shipowners are constantly faced with ever-changing laws and guidelines they must abide by. If they don't adhere - or even are not aware of these environmental requirements and regulations - they may not only risk losing their upstanding place in the maritime industry, but could face stiff fines and possibly even jail time. Ever since the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster in 1989, vessel owners and masters have since become wary of already-established and new guidelines (such as OPA '90) exerted by IMO and SOLAS for safe and clean waters. Everyone from captains on the largest cruise ships in the world - to the master of a small tugboat fall into this category. But, alas, there are always a few who think they are above the law or are just - in plain English - negligent in their decisions.