Page 34: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 2013)

34 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? JULY 2013 The opening of the base last month in Singapore was touted as a milestone event for the maritime and oil and gas industries in the Asia Pa- ciÞ c region, as it brings together person- nel and equipment resources in a single place, designed to deliver an integrated, swift and effective response to an emer- gency oil spill incident. A feather in the cap, so to speak, of the base centered on the arrival of the advanced subsea well capping equipment, the capping stack, which can be mobilized throughout the Asia PaciÞ c region in the event of a sub- sea well control incident.?Staying true to our mission to respond to oil spills effectively and ef Þ ciently anywhere in the world, the Loyang base forms an important link in our global network of response bases and is a stra-tegic launch pad from which to deliver our response, preparedness and subsea well intervention services to our mem-bers and stakeholders in the region,? said OSRL Chief Executive Robert Limb. Located within a dedicated oil and gas supply facility with wharf access and in proximity to key airports, the new base is strategically placed for OSRL to mount an emergency response either by air or sea, thereby offering a range of vi- able response delivery options during an emergency spill incident. ?OSRL is a global organization that provides members with resources to pre-pare for and respond to oil spills,? said Limb. ?OSRL?s history in Singapore goes back to the 1990s when it assisted in the establishment of EARL (East Asia Response Limited) in 1993. EARL was a Tier 3 organization focused on pre- paredness and response in the Asia Pa- ciÞ c region. EARL and OSRL merged in 2007 to form Oil Spill Response and East Asia Response Limited (OSRL/ EARL). The company was renamed Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) in 2009. In recent years, OSRL has responded to major oil spills in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Pakistan, India and Australia from the Singapore Base.?According to Limb, the Tiered Re- sponse concept of planning for oil spills focuses on how the global oil industry provides resources to respond to an in-cident. ?Under this concept, there are 3 tiers of response planning,? Limb said.? Tier 1 refers to having equipment on site to deal with minor operational spills. ? Tier 2 means having access to in-country resources, both personnel and equipment, that are shared under a form of mutual aid agreement by the different companies working in the country and which provides for access to the resourc-es in an emergency. ? Tier 3 is designed to provide ad-ditional expertise and resources in the event of a major spill, either in terms of volume or complexity, which cannot be managed with available Tier 1 and Tier 2 Asia Paci Þ c Spill Response OSRL Increases Capabilities Last month Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), a global oil spill response cooperative funded by more than 160 companies, opened its new base with en-hanced response capabilities at Loyang in Singapore. Maritime Reporter took the opportunity to speak with Robert Limb, OSRL Chief Executive, regarding the signiÞ cance of OSRL?s expansion. By Greg Trauthwein OSRL is investing in spill response technology, facilities and people. Left is a new Capping Stack; Below the new base in Singapore. MR #7 (34-42).indd 34MR #7 (34-42).indd 347/1/2013 1:21:01 PM7/1/2013 1:21:01 PM