One of the key elements in a successful oil spill contingency planning is to define the communication channels to be used by cooperating parties when facing an incident. A workshop in Pulau Indah, Klang, Malaysia, from 19-21 August, brought together officials from states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to help bring into operation the Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan, which was adopted in 2018.
Namely, participants from nine countries became more familiar with key elements of the plan and practised communications between States. This aimed to identify any gaps and lessons to be learned. The workshop aspires to help drive forward the implementation of this recently adopted plan.
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It was conducted under IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme and hosted by the Government of Malaysia and the Marine Department of Malaysia, at the Maritime Transport Training Institute, under the framework of the Global Initiative project for South East Asia (GI SEA), a joint project with the oil and gas industry (ipieca).
It also supports the implementation of IMO’s Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (the OPRC 90 Convention).
Finally, the Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan provides for a mechanism where ASEAN Member States can request for and provide mutual assistance in response to any oil spills. It also ensures a common understanding to allow for the effective integration between the affected and assisting ASEAN Member States, in case of incidents involving oil spills.
