COVID-19 Update - 11th June 2021
X-Press Pearl
We have confirmed this week our mobilisation to Sri Lanka in response to the incident relating to the container ship, the X-Press Pearl. The vessel is currently 10km offshore, approximately 12 km north of the capital city, Colombo. To read our full statement click here.
OSRL Staff travelled out to Sri Lanka with ITOPF and have been operating in a Bio-Secure bubble which has allowed them to be operational following a 24hr quarantine on arrival in country. The in-country OSRL team have been working closely with the Sri Lankan authorities to help maximise the recovery of stranded debris along the shoreline and provide strategic and technical guidance on the management of the incident. OSRL have also been advising the UK High Commission in Colombo on providing effective aid and support for the incident.
Southampton offshore exercise
Last month, the Response Department in Southampton ran its first Global Offshore Containment and Recovery exercise of the year.
Following the recent lockdowns in the UK, it was an excellent opportunity for the Response Department to get out onto the water and work on the deck of a vessel again.
The exercise objectives were to:
· Practice and adhere to OSRL covid-19 procedures.
· Improve the technical and leadership competency of personnel.
· Increase the confidence of deploying equipment.
· To deploy 400m of Ro-Boom.
The deployments were split into AM and PM teams and incorporated a week of practical exercises, theory presentations and a drill assessment with real-time feedback on the final day.
The week culminated with the drill, with the drill team able to deploy all the equipment successfully and achieve the exercise objectives.
There was great teamwork, problem-solving and sense checking to overcome the problems that teams were faced with and it was excellent to be back on the water working side by side again.
Subsea Maintenance Update
Capping stack maintenance was completed in Norway as per plan last week. A similar scope commenced in Brazil this week.
Work has also commenced this week in Italy with the extended 5 yearly maintenance of the Offset Installation Equipment (OIE).
We would like to thank all those team members at the sites and centrally for their hard work and due diligence during these critical activities. All subsea equipment remains response ready.
Base alert status updates
This month we have updated our Israel and Singapore country plans, to view all our country plans please click here.
Annual General Meeting 2021
It was great to welcome our members on Wednesday for the 2021 Members’ Information Forum. Members heard updates from our Response, Preparedness, SWIS, and Logistics Teams. Experts from across OSRL also discussed exciting developments in such areas as Crisis Management, Low Sulphur Fuel Oils, Liquified Natural Gas and Shipping, just to name a few.
Hopefully, you had a chance to join us for one of the regional sessions. But if you missed it, you can catch up and view the presented sessions, please contact us for viewing details. The full APAC, EMEA or Americas recordings will follow shortly next week.
Upcoming Webinars
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (also commonly referred to as drones) are commonplace in the modern world. In this upcoming seminar, Adrian, Aviation Liaison Officer and Matthew, Chair of the Surveillance Core Group will be exploring deeper into the applications of UAVs in oil spill response, specifically in the area of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). Register here.
As always, we remain a phone call away, ready to support you and your operations. Should you have any questions, please email CMT@oilspillresponse.com or contact our Duty Managers.