IOPC Funds publishes Guidance for Member States on Investigating the Circumstances Surrounding an Oil Pollution Incident

The IOPC Funds Secretariat has published new guidance for Member States to be followed when investigating the circumstances surrounding an oil pollution incident involving uninsured and unsafe ships.

The guidance was developed following discussions at the April 2024 sessions of the IOPC Funds’ governing bodies on the increasing transportation of oil by such ships, which were in part prompted by the Secretariat’s report on the Gulfstream incident, which had impacted Trinidad and Tobago in February 2024.  That incident had involved a vessel which was reported at the time to be poorly maintained and which was leaking oil prior to arriving in Tobago.  In addition, the shipowner and insurer were not identified.

The importance of the proactivity and close cooperation of the State in thoroughly investigating the circumstances of the incident were highlighted and the Director was instructed to develop guidance for Member States on investigating such oil pollution incidents, with one of the particular aims being to help identify the ships and individuals involved.

This publication will be particularly useful in cases where critical information about an oil spill is unclear, such as the cause of the spill or the registration and insurance status of the ship. The document, now available for download in the Publications section of the Funds’ website, was endorsed by the organisation’s governing bodies during their November 2024 meeting.  At that same meeting, Resolutions were adopted to raise awareness of the risk of uninsured and unsafe ships. Further details are available here.