Page 33: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1994)

Tanker Technology

OPA '90 Round-Up (Continued, from page 32) on January 4, 1993: the IMO Com- parative Design Study, the National

Academy of Sciences Study, and the Herbert Engineering Study (which resulted in the previously- mentioned delay in single-hull ret- rofit rules). One of the remaining reports is complete and being cleared. The other, the Tanker

Navigation Safety Study, is of such complexity that it has been broken down into 12 sub-studies, and is expected to be completed in several more years.

Tanker Escorts

According to Bruce Novak of the USCG's OPA '90 Staff, the two states identified by OPA '90 for tanker escort requirements are

Washington and Alaska. He said the USCG has taken some "heavy hits" on the issue from lawmakers who want tankers traversing state waters to have mandatory tug es- corts, particularly in Washington, where the major proponents of im- mediate precautionary measures are Gov. Mike Lowry and Con- gresswoman Jolene Unsoeld (D-

Wash.). The USCG has reportedly said that safety measures should be created within the boundaries set by international treaties and agree- ments, and through diplomatic channels between the U.S. and

Canada.

The Business Of Crisis

Management

OPA '90 has created a private sector determination to prepare for spills, often beyond what's required by law. Oil spill preparedness has become marketable, and companies are offering a host of products and services to tanker owners and oth- ers in related fields. The trend has extended to training for crews, training for lawyers, insurance of- ficers and others: organizations such as Environmental Crisis Man- agement, Inc. (ECI) of Stamford,

Conn, offer seminars on decision- making in oil spill crisis situations (its most recent was held on May 2).

The seminar, called "Spill '94: A

Problem-Solving Symposium," is made up of scenarios which intro- duce a series of problems attendees would encounter in an oil spill situ- ation, and illustrates ways they must work together to resolve those situations optimally.

Environmental videos are being offered to assist owner/operators in preparing themselves for the fu- ture as dictated by OPA '90: PCCI of

Alexandria. Va. offers owner/opera- tors a video on developing vessel spill response plans. Oil spill re- sponse contractors are another out- growth of the "response fever" which has translated into business oppor- tunity. New technologies are being developed either specifically for, or with definite application in, oil spill response: from GPS-linked oil slick tracking buoys to powerful ECDIS systems to improve navigation and reduce the likelihood of ground- ings.

May, 1994

The Near Future

More recent developments toward oil spill prevention measures, re- sulting from more recent experience, include laws reportedly being con- sidered in Puerto Rico to keep tank- ers five miles offshore until cleared by port officials, and legislation that would allow background checks on owners and the barring from San

Juan Bay of any owners with previ- ous violations. As the industry gains more experience in combating spills, new issues will arise and command attention: this makes sense if one views OPA '90 as a commitment to an evolutionary process that will result in reducing the probability of oil spills to a minimum. Mr. Novak of the OPA '90 Staff cites two major unresolved issues: existing vessels and escort vessels. But, he said, "We are making a concerted push to fin- ish up the outstanding issues this year." As stated in a recent report by Mr. Novak, "It is rare to achieve perfection on the first effort, and there is no doubt that as we live with

OPA '90 there will be plenty of sug- gestions on ways to improve it. This is as it should be. The world changes and our understanding of it changes as well."

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