Operationally, the joint venture is presently establishing strategically located global emergency response depots capable of offering guaranteed, safe, rapid and overlapping access to Tier II and Tier III oil spill protection and combat resources. The service will offer clients a one stop shop for training, exercises, equipment, and tiered response supported by dedicated logistics and personnel deployed and trained to combat spills of national and international significance.

The joint venture will also have access to the Swire Marine Training Centre which will become a centre of excellence for comprehensive pollution management training as part of the overall service offering.

To supplement existing inventories in Finland, Singapore and West Africa, the JV has placed further orders for €10m worth of emergency oil spill response equipment for initial deployment in the Middle East.

Commenting on the new joint venture, SPO managing director JB Rae-Smith said, 'With the increasing focus on the environment and the problems being caused by pollution, we have seen increasing requests from our customers for a more effective and comprehensive response to pollution related issues.

'LSES has been set up to cater to this demand and will enable SPO and Lamor to add considerable value to the services we currently provide by providing locally available oil spill equipment and staff trained in pollution control and clean up.' 'The Joint Venture is unique in the sense that our vessels will be equipped to handle the additional oil spill equipment and our officers and crews will be specifically trained in pollution response.'

The key to the service offering is to combine Lamor’s experience in handling pollution response with global SPO’s network of vessels and people to provide an immediate offshore response capability.