If you are a maritime professional working on ships, the SOPEP locker (room) is one of the important places you are asked to familiarise yourself with within the first few days of joining a ship. Let’s understand the importance of knowing the SOPEP—Ship Oil Pollution Emergency Plan for a maritime professional, reports Marine Insight.
Oil Spill Cleanup
When an oil spill occurs at sea, it spreads over the surface of the seawater, leaving a deadly impact on marine mammals, birds, the shoreline, and most importantly, the ocean and the environment.
The cost to clean up an oil spill depends on the quantity and quality of oil discharged in the sea and is calculated based on factors such as legal claims, money paid as penalties, loss of oil, repairs, and cleanups, and—most importantly—loss of marine life and the effects on human health, which cannot be measured against any amount. As prevention is better than cure, almost all cruise and cargo vessels carry a prevention plan to avoid the above losses, primarily marine pollution, and damage to marine species. This plan is known as SOPEP or ship oil pollution emergency plan.
About SOPEP
As mentioned earlier, Sopep stands for Ship Oil Pollution Emergency Plan. As per the MARPOL 73/78 requirement under Annex I, all ships with 400 GT and above must carry an oil prevention plan, as per the norms and guidelines laid down by the International Maritime Organization under the MEPC (Marine Environmental Protection Committee) Act.
The gross tonnage requirement for an oil tanker, according to SOPEP, is reduced to 150 GT as oil itself is a kind of cargo that doubles the risk of oil pollution. The master of the ship is in charge of the SOPEP overall, along with the chief officer, who is subordinate to the master and in charge of implementing SOPEP on board.
Essential Requirements
- The Ship Oil Pollution Emergency Plan must be written following the provisions of regulation 37 of Annex I of MARPOL
- The approved plan guides the Master and officers on board the ship concerning the steps to be taken when an oil pollution incident occurs or a ship is at risk of one.
- It is a requirement that the SOPEP contains all the information and operational instructions related to the emergency procedure and SOPEP equipment provided in the SOPEP kit.
- The plan must contain important telephone, telex numbers, names, etc., of all the important contacts to be contacted in the event of an oil pollution
- A recognized authority has approved the SOPEP, and there are no changes or revisions made without the prior approval of the Administration.
- If there are any changes in the non-mandatory plan, it generally does not require approval from the administration.
Equipment List
SOPEP contains the following things:
- The action plan contains the duty of each crew member at the time of the spill, including emergency muster and actions.
- SOPEP contains general information about the ship and the owner of the ship, etc.
- Steps and procedure to contain the discharge of oil into the sea using SOPEP equipment
- It contains the inventory of the SOPEP material provided for pollution prevention such as oil absorbent pads, sawdust bags, booms, etc.
- Onboard reporting procedure and requirements in case of an oil spill is described
- Authorities to contact and report requirements in case of an oil spill are listed in SOPEP. Authorities like port state control, oil clean-up team etc are to be notified
- Authorities to contact and reporting requirements in case of an oil spill are listed in SOPEP. Authorities like port state control, oil clean-up team etc. are to be notified.
- SOPEP includes drawing various fuel lines, along with other oil lines on board the vessel, with the positioning of vents, saving all trays, etc.
- The general arrangement of the ship is also listed in SOPEP, which includes the location of all the oil tanks with capacity, content etc.
- The location of the SOPEP locker and contents of the locker with a list of inventory
- Guidance to keep the records of the pollution incident (for liability, compensation and insurance purposes)
- Material for Reference from essential organizations
Shipping Crew Duty
MASTER: He/she is overall in charge of any incident related to the oil spill and should inform the authorities about it. He/she needs to ensure all crew members are complying with the plan and records are maintained for the incident.
Chief Engineer: He/she will be in charge of the bunkering operation and will instruct the subordinates to prepare SOPEP KIT before any oil-related operation (Sludge transfer, lube oil bunkering, fuel oil bunkering etc.)
Chief Officer: He/she will be in charge of complete deck operation to prevent any oil spill, or in the event of a spill, the Chief officer must keep the master in the loop at all times and update the situation and action taken to stop or reduce an oil outflow.
Duty Engineer: To assist Chief Engineer for any oil transfer operation which includes preparation of SOPEP material and readiness of firefighting equipment.
Duty Rating(s): To assist and alert the duty officer and engineer to detect potential oil leakage and to immediately assist by all possible means to restrict and clean an ongoing spill. He/she should bring the additional SOPEP material to the location to prevent oil from reaching the ship’s railing.
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Source: MarineInsight
