ITOPF meeting
On the 15th and 16th May this year senior representatives from both ITOPF and OSRL sat down to discuss current developments within both organisation. The discussion centred on the state of both the shipping and oil and gas industries with regards to spill response.
The discussions focussed on a number of key areas, these are highlighted below;
The development and use of RESPONSECON
Situational Awareness focusing on the following areas
- Aerial surveillance
- Operational use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on a response
- Deconfliction of aerial assets
- Diving / Underwater surveys and the use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Review of Recent Response Activity
Recent trends in dispersant research and equipment development
Implications of IMO Paris Agreement sulphur limits for marine fuels
- In particular focussing on a SINTEF paper "Characterisation of weathering properties of low sulphur fuel oils" and the potential challenges of responding to these in the future.
Countries of shared interest from response / preparedness perspective
- Including Turkey, India, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, China and Indonesia...
Updates in the oil and gas industry OSPR models:
- Tiered Preparedness and Response (TPR) wheel model
- Spill Impact Mitigation Assessment (SIMA): a methodology to do Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (NEBA). A discussion on how SIMA is presented and received
Training & Education:
- Collaborative work and joint delivery of key messages
- OSRL and ITOPF new-starts
- Updates to publications (videos planned, new materials etc.)
- Plans for upcoming conferences and exhibitions to attend / present at
- ITOPF R&D award / Student outreach
- Links with academia – Bridging research to response
AOB:
- Plans for ITAC
Both organisations agreed to continue their collaborative work in training and short courses and to continue building on the existing knowledge sharing taking place.
OSRL would like to thank ITOPF for kindly hosting the meeting at their offices in London and look forward to reciprocating this in the future.
Aaron Montgomery