The Development of Technology in Response to Changing Legislation¹

As environmental control and awareness increases globally, it is becoming progressively more important to be able to use existing oil pollution response technology in the most cost effective manner. In 1999 the Department of Trade and Industry, who govern offshore operations in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf, set some prescriptive guidelines regarding response capabilities. These guidelines set mandatory response times, to include surveillance and achievable oil quantity combat rates. The operators affected by these guidelines turned to their respective tier 2 and 3 response service providers and it became obvious that these guidelines were not achievable at that time. This poster will provide a case study of how two large oil spill response organisations joined forces to provide their customers with a solution to a potential “operation halting” problem. This solution involved the utilisation of current response equipment and the development of new equipment and operating procedures.