SOPEP stated in MARPOL Annex 1 Chapter 5 Regulation no 37
Regulation 37 – Shipboard oil pollution emergency plan
Every oil tanker of 150 gross tonnage and above and every ship other than an oil tanker of 400 gross tonnage and above shall carry on board a Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan approved by the Administration.
SOPEP:
SOPEP Meaning:
SOPEP stands for Ship oil pollution emergency plan and as per the MARPOL 73/78 requirement under Annex I, an oil tanker 150 GT and all ships with 400 GT and above must carry an oil prevention plan
Master of the ship is the overall in charge of the SOPEP, along with the chief officer as subordinate in charge for implementation of SOPEP on board. SOPEP also describes the plan for the master, officer and the crew of the ship regarding ways to tackle various oil spill scenarios that can occur on a ship.
The essential SOPEP requirements for a ship are:
1. The Ship Oil Pollution Emergency Plan must be a written plan.
2. The plan guides the Master and officers on board the ship concerning the steps to be taken when an oil pollution incident has occurred or if there is a risk of one.
5. A recognized authority has approved the SOPEP, and there are no changes or revisions made without the prior approval of the Administration.
6. If there are any changes in the plan which is non-mandatory, it generally does not require approval from the administration. The owner and ship manager must update about the non-mandatory changes done in the plan
Contents of SOPEP
SOPEP contains the following things:
•The action plan which contains the duty of each crew member at the time of the spill, including emergency muster and actions.
•SOPEP contains the general information about the ship and the owner of the ship etc.
•Steps and procedure to contain the discharge of oil into the sea using SOPEP equipment
•It contains the inventory of the SOPEP material provided for pollution prevention such as an oil absorbent pads, sawdust bags, booms etc.
•Onboard reporting procedure and requirement in case of an oil spill is described
•Authorities to contact and reporting requirements in case of an oil spill are listed in SOPEP. Authorities like port state control, oil clean up team etc are to be notified
•SOPEP includes drawing of various fuel lines, along with other oil lines on board vessel with the positioning of vents, save all trays etc.
•The general arrangement of the ship is also listed in SOPEP, which includes the location of all the oil tanks with capacity, content etc.
•The location of the SOPEP locker and contents of the locker with a list of inventories
•Guidance to keep the records of the pollution incident (for liability, compensation and insurance purpose)
•Procedure to maintain the record as required by the authorities
SOPEP equipment:
.sopep equipment
1. Oil boom
2. Oil spill dispersants. (chemical)
3. Oil sweep
4. Absorbent materials
5. Oil sorbent socks
6. Absorbent roll
7. Scoops
8. Absorbent granules (saw dust)
9. Shovels
10. Absorbent pads
11. Brooms
12. Mops
13. Empty receptacles (200 liters capacity) (200 litre drum)
14. Oil Truck pack (carriage truck)
15. PVC protective gloves
16. IMO disposable bags
17. Non sparking hand pump (portable air driven pumps)
18. Screwdriver
19. 7-barrel kits for USCG
The SOPEP locker must be stowed in an easily accessible locker, clearly marked, and prior to all bunkering operations SOPEP items to be brought on deck ready for immediate use,
The overview of general duties of ships’ crew under SOPEP:
MASTER: He/she is overall in charge of any incident related to the oil spill and should contact the authorities about it. He/she needs to ensure all crew members are complying with the plan and records are maintained for the incident
Chief Engineer: He/she will be the in charge of the bunkering operation and will instruct the subordinates to prepare SOPEP KIT prior to any oil related operation (Sludge transfer, lube oil bunkering, fuel oil bunkering etc.). Chief engineer should keep the Master informed and updated on the situation, and the results from action taken to limit oil outflow.
Chief Officer: He/she will be the in charge of complete deck operation to prevent any oil spill or in the event of a spill, the Chief officer must always keep the master in the loop and update the situation and action taken to stop or reduce an oil outflow.
Deck Duty Officer: To Assist the chief officer in deck watch and alert and inform Chief Officer/ Chief Engineer on any potential oil spill situation.
Duty Engineer: To assist Chief Engineer for any oil transfer operation which includes preparation of SOPEP material and readiness of firefighting equipment.
Duty Rating(s): To assist and alert the duty officer and engineer for detection of potential oil leakage and to immediately assist by all possible means to restrict and clean an ongoing spill. He/she should bring the additional SOPEP material to the location for preventing oil from reaching the ship’s railing.
SOPEP does not only provide details for preventing and fighting an oil spill, but it also acts similar to any other regulation of SOLAS as it also has the details to save the ship and crew in the event of mishap such as fire, collision, listing etc. and other related incident related to oil.
