Fuel supplier urges need for oil spill response plan
A MARINE oil spill contingency plan should be in place for any company which operates in the maritime sector.
This was according to a statement from Pacific Energy as it had held a marine oil spill exercise on World Maritime Day last Thursday at the Port Denarau Marina in Nadi.
According to the company, in any marine oil spill exercise it is important to work with the relevant authorities involved.
During the exercise, a few scenarios were displayed which depicted situations faced by mariners and how they could address these situations on a timely manner.
These were said to include situations including a vessel on fire, vessel oil spill, vessel sinking and rescue operations to save lives on board.
Pacific Energy’s health safety security environment and quality officer Mark Olig explained briefly the lengths the company went through to contain a marine oil spill during the exercise.
It was stated every company must have a marine oil spill contingency plan which was regulated by the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji.
The oil spill contingency plan is a detailed oil spill response and removal plan, which according to Pacific Energy addresses controlling, containing and recovering an oil spill in quantities which may be harmful to controllable waters or adjoining shorelines.
The statement added that Pacific Energy operates in the region under the umbrella of Pacific Islands Energy group of companies and strives to use pollution prevention as well as environmental best practices in all they do.