Marine chemical spill: an overview of response issues

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Marine chemical spill an overview of response
issues
INTERNATIONAL TANKER OWNERS POLLUTION
FEDERATION LIMITED

• Stéphane Grenon
• Technical adviser
• ITOPF
• Intertanko Chemical Tanker Committee
• Singapore
• November 11, 2004

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Outline

• ITOPF
• Issues with marine chemical spills
• What is expected from ship owners?

M/V Accord, China
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What is ITOPF ?
International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation
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• What is ITOPF ?
• Established in 1968,
• following Torrey Canyon
• Small not for profit org.
• based in London
• Technical Advisers
• (Biologists, Chemists,
• Engineers)
• International Service

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• ITOPF MEMBERS
• Tanker owners
  bareboat charters
• gt 8,400 tankers
• 196 million GT
• 98 of worlds tonnage
• ASSOCIATES
• All other types of ship
• 310 million GT
• gt ½ of spills attended

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ROLE ON SITE

• Respond on behalf of members, clubs, IOPC Fund
• Advise and assist all parties on most effective
  clean-up to minimise resource damage
• Always advisory
• Offer guidance on likely admissibility of claims
  (reasonableness)
• Monitor events, clean-up activities and
  investigate damage to coastal resources

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• Technical Services
• Response to marine oil chemical spills
• Damage assessment claims analysis
• Contingency planning advisory work
• Training, seminars, conferences
• Information services
• Publications
• Databases
• Website
• www.itopf.com

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ITOPF and chemical spill response

• Internal working group
• ITOPF response procedure
• Training
• Reference materials
• Link with other partners (industry, governments)
• Contract with UK National Chemical Emergency
  Centre (NCEC)

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ITOPF Objectives

• To parallel our role with respect to oil spills
  and to provide prompt advice to our ship-owners
  and their insurers in the event of
• An emergency
• General enquiries
• HNS Convention
• OPRC-HNS Protocol

M.V. ACCORD, China, Oct. 2002
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Chemicals Other Substances- ITOPFs
Involvement Recently

• Incidents Attended
• CO-OP VENTURE Japan, July 2002 (Oil Corn)
• JOLLY RUBINO, South Africa, Sept. 2002 (Oil
  Class 3 hazard)
• ACCORD, China, Oct. 2002 (Methyl methacrylate,
  Polypropylene Glycol Methyl Ether Acetate)
• FU SHAN HAI, Sweden, June 2003 (Oil potassium
  chloride)
• TASMAN SPIRIT, Pakistan, July 2003 (Iranian
  Light crude oil)
• BOW MARINER, USA, March 2004 (oil ethanol)
• Incidents Notified
• IRINA 2, Papua New Guinea, July 2002 (Palm Oil)
• BOW EAGLE, UK, August 2002 (Ethyl acetate)
• TAI PING, New Zealand, Oct. 2002 (Urea)
• METIN KA, Turkey, Dec, 2002, (Sulphuric acid) /
  Jan. 2004, Oman (Ethanol)
• JAMBO, UK, June 2003 (Zinc concentrate
  Cadmium)
• PANAM SERRENA, Sardinia, Italy, January 2004
  (Benzene)

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Issues with marine chemical spills
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Risks

• HNS spills not as frequent as oil spills
• Quantities spilled can be small
• Chemical tanker 40000 m3 - 150000 m3 (many
  products onboard)
• Container 10m3
• ICB 1m3
• Drum 200 litres
• But effects can be large!
• 1 tonne chlorine 4.8 km safety zone

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Risks

• Response might be complex
• Wide variety of products
• Wide variety of behaviour
• Wide variety of toxicity
• Effects on marine environment not well known
• Response technologies not as developed as oil
• Potential effects on population more severe than
  oil

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The OPRC-HNS Protocol(Protocol on Preparedness,
Response and Co-operation to Pollution Incidents
by Hazardous and Noxious Substances, 2000)

• Requires national regional systems for
  preparedness and response to HNS incidents.
• Calls for co-operation between governments, port
  authorities, shipping industry and the chemical
  industry.

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OPRC-HNS Protocol
Enters into force 12 months after 15 States
have ratified the Protocol. Current Status
Ratified by 9 States (Ecuador, Greece, Malta,
Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Uruguay,
Vanuatu) IMO encouraging early ratification of
both OPRC-HNS Protocol and the HNS Convention to
provide maximum protection in the event of an
HNS incident.
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What is needed from ship owners?
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Chemical emergency response
Accident
Alert
Substance (s)
Hazard
Assessment
Behaviour
Sensitive resources
Health Safety
Plan
Evaluate
Strategies
Execute
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Need for information

• Access to the ship/cargo owner is critical
• A strong communication link between owner and
  responders will be necessary!
• Information on substance is critical

M/V Panam Serrena, Italy
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Which information?

• Name and identification number
• UN or CAS number, identification markings
• type of packaging
• Emergency contact number
• Quantity on board or spilled
• MSDS, bill of lading, stowage plans, cargo
  manifest

M/V Jolly Rubinno, South Africa
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Which information?

• Name and contact details of the ships agent or
  shipper or manufacturer
• Container/package type, size and quantity,
  condition
• Local environmental conditions (weather,
  temperature, sea conditions, wind speed and
  direction)
• Length, breadth and appearance of any slicks or
  plumes, including direction of movement and
  behaviour (i.e. floating, sinking, colour, odour,
  reaction, etc.)

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Which information?

• Have there been reports of any injuries or
  adverse effects to human health or the
  environment?
• Proximity to sensitive resources and residential
  areas
• Notification of emergency services, local /
  national authorities

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Chemical responseSummary

• More complex than oil spill response
• Behaviour
• Hazards
• Health Safety
• Responders and population more at risk
• Must have a contingency plan!
• Experts (chemical health)
• Local authorities (protection of population)
• Tools

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Chemical responseSummary

• Most of the information to start the response is
  with the ship owner/agent
• Must be ready to transfer that information in the
  initial moments of an incident