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Pollution Control

EMSA Oil Recovery Vessel Contracts Finalised

21 Feb 2008

The European Marine Safety Agency (EMSA) has recently awarded contracts worth €18.4m over three years that will see seven oil product tankers, three from the UK, two Spanish, one Maltese and one Greek, joining their fleet of oil recovery vessels to be made available at short notice in specific areas for oil recovery operations while otherwise still carrying out their normal commercial trading duties. They will be either primary or back-up vessels.
The James Fisher tanker 'Forth Fisher' was used to remove bunkers and other potential pollutants from the grounded 'MSC Napoli' last year.
The James Fisher tanker 'Forth Fisher' was used to remove bunkers and other potential pollutants from the grounded 'MSC Napoli' last year.

In response to specific EU regulations, EMSA is committed to providing various forms of assistance for EU/EEA Member States in the event that they have to deal with ship sourced pollution. In relation to this contract, that means by providing oil recovery vessels when the affected countries' resources are unable to cope with an incident.

A network of pollution response vessels has been in place since 2005, covering the Baltic, Atlantic and Mediterranean areas and these latest contracts will see a strengthening of the provisions, taking into account the increase in oil tanker traffic, particularly from the former Soviet Union.

UK shipowner James Fisher Everard, part of the James Fisher and Sons group will provide the oil product tankers Forth Fisher, Mersey Fisher and Galway Fisher for the pool. All of these tankers usually operate between the UK and Ireland. The Spanish company Mureloil will supply the Bahia Uno and Bahia Tres, tankers which normally operate in the Algeciras area of southern Spain. Maltese company Tankship Management’s contribution to the arrangement will be the Salina Bay, based in La Spezia, northern Italy. Finally, the Greek company Environmental Protection Engineering (EPE) will be providing the Aktea OSRV, based in Piraeus, southern Greece.

The James Fisher tanker Forth Fisher has recently had a high profile experience in operating in the role of an oil recovery vessel when it was used to remove bunkers and other potential pollutants from the MSC Napoli. The UK flagged container ship was beached in Lyme Bay in January 2007 after cracks appeared in the hull during heavy weather conditions. In preparation for their new duties the vessels will be equipped with additional equipment. Various drills and exercises will be required and it is planned that these seven newcomers to

the EMSA pool will enter service this year. Also in 2008, EMSA aim to plug any remaining loopholes in the areas of coverage including the Black Sea.

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