Throughout the world, there is a stated requirement affecting Organizations, Regional Government, National Government and International Conventions. That Statement is:
“Those who create the Risk must be made to manage it”
In order to manage a risk it must be Identified, Quantified and Control Measures Implemented. Other parts of industry call this process, Risk Assessment and concentrate mainly on preventing the direct dangers to people being realized.
In the Oil, Gas and Shipping Industries, having done all that is possible to prevent a spill from happening, we assume the worst and plan what to do in mitigation. This is called Contingency Planning. The dictionary defines Contingency as “the state of being contingent, which is a chance, possible or accidental occurrence”. So we are planning for that accident which we have planned to prevent but despite our best efforts do occur. What do we intend to do?
The question of “Who are we?” might be posed. The answer is simply: We are any of the following:
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The owner and master of any vessel, which qualifies under Regulation 26 of Annex 1 of MARPOL 73/78.
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The Master and Management of any Harbour or Port where qualifying vessels visit or berth.
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The Owners, Operators, Duty Holders or OIM of any Offshore Oil Installation working within the jurisdiction of the Flag State.
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The appropriate executive of the Local Authority in whose Region or District pollutable shoreline exists.
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Officials or Agents of any National Government with exposed coastline.
Regardless of whether the Law requires a Contingency Plan to be prepared by a particular body or not, it is essential that one exists if our organization or any part of our area of responsibility is exposed to RISK of pollution.
Our Central Advisory Division (CAD) produces Oil Spill Contingency Plans to governmental and international legislative standards; on behalf of the Oil Industry, Shipping Industry, and Ports and Terminals world-wide.
PESCo provides a variety of Contingency Plan packages covering:
- Offshore Production / Drilling
- Ports and Harbors
- Local Authorities
- Operational Specific Plans
Offshore Oil Spill Contingency Plan is designed to guide the offshore operator’s personnel and contractors through the processes required to initiate an appropriate oil spill response in the event of a hydrocarbon release associated with development operations. The plans detail a tiered response strategy that is in accordance with legislative requirements and take into account: the spill risk associated with the operation; the nature of the hydrocarbons that could be spilt; the prevailing meteorological and hydrographic conditions and the environmental sensitivity of the surrounding areas.
These plans are specifically for operations, either maritime or onshore, within the ports area of jurisdiction. The plan is designed to initiate an appropriate oil spill response in the event of an incident within the ports jurisdiction with the aim and content of that detailed in the offshore plans.
Since the Amoco Cadiz disaster in 1978, local authorities have accepted a non-statutory duty to clean-up oil spills impacting their shoreline. Therefore Local Authority Plans are designed to local government agencies through the processes required to initiate an appropriate oil spill response to oil pollution beaching in their area of jurisdiction.
The nature of the industry often provides the opportunity to develop plans specific to cover specialist operations, where the fundamentals of contingency planning are combined with operation specifics to compile a unique document.
For more information about our services, please contact us using any of the following methods: Online contact form or E-mail Us
