Action Plan for Response to Marine Pollution from Oil and Gas Installations - EMSA [2014, PDF]

Action Plan for Response to Marine Pollution from Oil and Gas Installations

Year: 2014
Language: english
Author: EMSA
Genre: Research papers
Publisher: European Maritime Safety Agency
Format: PDF
Quality: eBook
Pages count: 84
Description: EMSA's Action Plan covers the response to oil pollution caused by offshore installations. The response to pollution caused by gas installations is not addressed due to the particularities of such incidents. EMSA's expertise and response capabilities are primarily focused on oil pollution in the marine environment. Gas emissions may include liquid condensates, which evaporate into the atmosphere, with limited residues persisting on the water surface, meaning that on-site recovery is not feasible.
However, gas plumes from gas installation incidents can pose a significant hazard to responders and EMSA will therefore explore monitoring options for oil and gas incidents, taking into consideration recent technological advances in this area.
The Action Plan provides:
- an overview of international and regional regulatory and cooperation structures for pollution response, addressing offshore installations in particular;
- information regarding particularities and challenges of pollution caused by offshore installations and response measures to marine pollution caused by such installations, including some case studies;
- a brief overview of both Member States' and oil industry's preparedness and response activities regarding oil pollution caused by offshore installations; and
- an array of proposed activities by the Agency in the fields of operational assistance, cooperation and information.
The activities proposed in the Action Plan shall be implemented on a step-by-step basis through the Agency's Annual Work Programmes, following the approval by the Administrative Board. The actual timing and extent of its implementation are dependent on the available financial resources as well as the levels of support and participation from both Member States and the oil industry. Nonetheless, EMSA intends to build up an appropriate 'reserve for disasters' by adapting its current capabilities and developing new ones.