SPILLCON 2019

ITOPF attended SPILLCON 2019, the Asia-Pacific oil spill prevention and preparedness conference which ran from 20-24 May 2019 in Perth, Australia. Organised by the Australian Institute of Petroleum and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority,  the event brought together about 450 local, regional and international environmental and maritime representatives across industry, government and non-government organisations.

Karen Purnell was invited to address the conference on the challenges of responding to spills of non-persistent oils (Group 1 oils), with particular reference to the SANCHI incident.  She was also asked to speak at an IMO workshop on responding to incidents in remote locations.  Attendees included IMO-sponsored representatives from Asia and the Pacific. The recent incident in the Solomon Islands involving the bulk carrier SOLOMON TRADER highlighted the importance of regional cooperation, especially in remote locations.

Whilst in Perth, Karen also took the opportunity to catch up with oil spill response organisations (OSROs) and equipment providers, speaking at a meeting of the Global Response Network  (GRN) and visiting the exhibition held in conjunction with Spillcon.

Photo courtesy of SPILLCON