Spill Notification Point

Competent National Authority

Response Arrangements

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (Merchant Marine Department) is the lead agency for oil spill preparedness and response in Cambodia. The Ministry may request assistance from other government departments, private industries and overseas resources.

There is currently no national system in place for oil spill preparedness and response in Cambodia, but a sub-decree on the establishment of such a system has been drafted. This includes a draft national oil spill contingency plan. A workshop for government entities and local oil companies, organised under the framework of the IMO/IPIECA Global Initiative project for South East Asia (GI SEA) in August 2019, updated the existing draft plan by identifying country-specific risks and existing gaps. Cambodia is now working to develop an action plan to finalise and implement the NCP.  

Due to the limitation of available oil spill response resources, only small-to-moderate spills could be handled with national resources. In the event of a Tier 3 spill, regional and international assistance would be needed.

An Environmental Senstivity Atlas for the Gulf of Thailand (2013) which includes information on the resources at risk on the coastline of Cambodia is available online. This was developed to guide effective planning and spill response in the region and initiated by PEMSEA (Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia) in collaboration with IMO.

Response Policy

Guidelines on the use of dispersants in Cambodia have been drafted. It is the declared policy of the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to include the application of dispersants as an important ‘first stage’ response strategy. The decision to use dispersants should be made by the Incident Commander in consultation with the General Department of Environmental Protection of the MOE. However, the Incident Commander may authorise the use of dispersants without consultation in order to reduce any threat to human life from fire or explosion. Authorisation must be based on a reasonable belief that the application of dispersants would be effective and that there would be a net environmental benefit for their use. A list of approved dispersants is available based on the list approved by Thailand which shares the same waters within the Gulf of Thailand.

Equipment

Government & Private

According to PEMSEA, some spill response equipment and materials are available from private oil companies. These stockpiles are located at Sihanoukville (the country’s main port) and include boom, skimmers, sorbents, dispersants.

Previous Spill Experience

ITOPF is not aware of any major oil spills occurring in Cambodia.

Compensation

* not yet in force 

Regional & Bilateral Agreements

Cambodia is a signatory to the 2014 ASEAN Memorandum of Understanding Cooperation Mechanism for Joint Oil Spill Preparedness and Response

Party to joint statement on partnership in oil spill preparedness and response in the Gulf of Thailand with Thailand and Vietnam, PEMSEA

Participates in the East Asian Seas Action Plan, coordinated by COBSEA (Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia) with PR China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Active in the GI-SEA Project.

Date of issue: December 2019