Page 24: of Marine News Magazine (April 2014)

of the equipment to be utilized in the event of a release, in- formation on how to handle public relations, check lists to be used in the case of an emergency, procedures for critical tasks that could cause a pollution incident, or the require- ments for conducting ongoing drills.Each vessel?s plan should provide the particulars for the vessel. Although this information can easily be provided by the vessel?s captain, in the event of an emergency, this infor- mation may need to be provided quickly at a time when the captain may not be available. The plan should identify the name of the vessel, the vessel?s owner and operator, the of-  cial number, the  ag, port of registry, vessel builder, gross tonnage, length, draft, etc. If this information is included in the emergency response document, any crew member will be able to provide this pertinent data to the authorities. The next section of the plan should assist the crew in determining whether a discharge of oil, should be reported and to whom it should be reported. As such, the  rst ele- ment of the vessel?s response is to assess the nature of the incident. The crew member who becomes aware of the dis- charge should immediately alert other crew members, iden- tify the source of the spill and then a spill assessment can be conducted. Once the spill is assessed, the vessel?s captain can determine whether the discharge should be reported. It is important that the crew knows that reporting a spill is required whenever there is a discharge of oil resulting from damage to the vessel or its equipment, an intentional discharge for the purpose of securing the safety of the ves- sel or saving a life at sea, or during the operation of the vessel. In addition to these actual discharges, a probable discharge should be reported when a discharge is noticed on the surface of the water when the crew is unable to determine where the discharge is coming from. As with the vessel particulars, it is pertinent to have a checklist in- cluded within the plan that provides crewmembers a quick description of how they should proceed. The captain should report the spill by the quickest means possible, whether via radio or telephone. The plan should include a contact list that the captain can use to report the incident. Under most circumstances, the list should include contacting the company?s operation center, the dock/termi- nal operator where the vessel is working, and the state and federal authorities. The captain should provide an initial re- port that includes the location of the spill, the characteristics of the oil spilled, the disposition of the vessel and its cargo, the movement of the slick and the type of assistance required. This section of the plan should include a listing of the reporting number for the NRC and all of the government agencies and designated response companies that should be contacted in the case of an emergency. These agencies could include entities such as the United States Coast Guard, MMS, the adjoining state?s Oil Spill Response Of ce, the ad- jacent state?s Department of Environmental Quality, the State Police Hazardous Material Unit, and the State Police Emer- gency Response Unit. Speci c numbers for each state that your vessel operates in should be included as part of the plan. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES : THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS The plan should also provide the procedures for dealing with speci c events that may cause a spill. Such events can include the transfer of fuel while fueling the vessel, the transfer of material from the vessel to another ves- sel or platform, leakage from equipment on deck such as winches, pumps, etc. or the leakage of material caused by a vessel casualty. As one would expect, the crew?s response to each of these particular events would be much different. A response to a vessel grounding causing fuel to leak from a tank would be very different from the leaking of  uid from a winch located on deck. Providing a simple checklist provides the crew with a listing of the tasks that need to be completed to minimize the chance of a spill. Furthermore, the plan should designate which member of the crew is responsible for documenting the incident by maintaining logs, diaries, etc. detailing the incident, the reporting of the incident, the response of the incident and the incident clean-up. As the captain is usually very busy during an emergency incident, it may be wise to designate a mate or other similar of cer for this task. Additional areas of the plan could include a section on how to deal with the public relations aspect of the spill. As such, the plan should detail which company representatives are au- thorized to issue statements or give information to any of the entities that may request information that are not included in the plan. For example, ship board personnel need to be autho- rized to provide information to MMS, Coast Guard, State Po- lice, etc. However, these employees should not be authorized to provide information to local media, environmental groups, etc. The plan should designate which company representative is responsible for providing information to these other entities. Although none of us want to have a spill, it is important to develop a response plan prior to receiving the call from a ves- sel notifying you that a spill has occurred. An effective plan will allow the company to coordinate the activities of compa- ny personnel, to assist the federal government in responding to the spill and attempt to minimize the effect that a release will have to both the company?s reputation and bottom line. Pre-spill planning may seem like carrying an umbrella on a sunny day. That said; you will be glad that you spent the time planning for an oil spill if you ever do receive a call notifying you that one of your vessels is involved with a spill. LEGALCOLUMNApril 201424 MNMN April14 Layout 18-31.indd 24MN April14 Layout 18-31.indd 243/20/2014 11:49:54 AM3/20/2014 11:49:54 AM