Approaches to Nontank Vessel Contingency Planning¹

Tank vessels that carry oil as cargo are subject to a number of international, national, and local regulations requiring that the vessel owners plan for and be prepared to respond to oil spills. By comparison, nontank vessels such as freighters, passenger ships, and fishing vessels typically have not been subject to the same level of oil spill prevention and response requirements. However, a number of recent, high-profile nontank vessel oil spills have heightened public awareness of the oil spill risk posed by nontank vessels. In response to such events, several US states have implemented regulations requiring nontank vessels to prepare oil spill contingency plans similar to those required for tankers and tank barges. This paper considers several different approaches to oil spill contingency planning for nontank vessels, focusing on the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada. The authors compare the requirements in place in Alaska, California, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, and make recommendations to promote a parallel planning process along the Pacific coast of North America.