Partnerships

ITOPF works throughout the world with intergovernmental bodies and national governments and their agencies to promote effective response to marine spills of oil, chemicals and HNS.  

These partnerships form part of the International response community and at the individual Government level are too numerous to be listed here.  We illustrate the range of key partnerships around the world by listing some of the key Intergovernmental links.

Intergovernmental Partners

The International Maritime Organization is the United Nations specialised agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.

• Consultative status enabling us to contribute to the work of IMO
• Member of Pollution Prevention and Response Sub-Committee (PPR)
• Jointly run courses with IMO and its regional centres (REMPEITC-CARIBE and REMPEC) on oil and HNS preparedness and response.

The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) assists the Mediterranean coastal States in ratifying, transposing, implementing and enforcing international maritime conventions related to the prevention of, preparedness for, and response to marine pollution from ships.

• Facilitator in regional workshops on oil and HNS preparedness and response and compensation issues

The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Information and Training Center for the Wider Caribbean (REMPEITC-Caribe) is a Regional Activity Center (RAC) for the Protocol Concerning the Cooperation in Combating Oil Spills in the Wider Caribbean Region (Oil Spills Protocol).

• Member of IMO-RAC/REMPEITC-Caribe Steering Committee
• Facilitator in national and regional oil spill preparedness and response workshops

The International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds are three intergovernmental organisations (the 1971 Fund, the 1992 Fund and the Supplementary Fund) which provide compensation for oil pollution damage resulting from spills of persistent oil from tankers.

• Observer status enabling us to participate in discussions at meetings of the governing bodies
• Engaged as experts to assess the reasonableness of clean-up measures and the technical merits of claims for compensation
• Jointly run courses on liability and compensation issues

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic.

External expert to The Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response Working Group (EPPR) of the Arctic Council
Contributed to discussions on the Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response signed by Arctic Ministers in May 2013

The European Maritime Safety Agency provides technical assistance and support to the European Commission and Member States in the development and implementation of EU legislation on maritime safety, pollution by ships, and maritime security. 

Working as the provider of robust, objective advice which is at the heart of ITOPF’s role at marine incidents worldwide, we have close working partnerships with governments and the wider global spill response community.

This is illustrated in the graphic from the “Introduction to Oil Spills” from the ITOPF film series:

Many of these relationships are on an informal or semi-formal basis, however, for some areas of the world this has partnership has developed into a more formal Memorandum of Understanding:

Singapore MPA

ITOPF and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on oil spill response and vessel rates in Singapore. This is with the aim of expediting claims for compensation.

ITOPF is a key player in the co-operative arrangements between the International Group of P&I Clubs (IGP&I) and the US Department of the Interior (DOI) as outlined in an MoU signed in 2011. 

The purpose of the agreement is to promote co-operation in preparedness activities and post-spill impact assessment as required for ship-related OPA 90 incidents. ITOPF’s role is to assist in the sharing of relevant technical information and the undertaking of relevant joint studies during the technical assessment and restoration planning process.

ITOPF has a pivotal role in the 2007 MoU between the IGP&I and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to improve transparency and promote collaboration in the process of natural resource damage assessment (NRDA).

ITOPF’s role is to provide technical information and analysis to all parties involved in the restoration process and to join technical working groups should this be appropriate.