Spill Notification Point

Competent National Authority

Response Arrangements

French Guiana constitutes an overseas administrative unit (Departement d'Outremer) of France headed by a prefect (Préfet de Region) who also acts as the chief executive for maritime affairs (Préfet Maritime) and would oversee any spill response mounted in its waters. Arrangements for response are based on the French POLMAR system - POLMAR-Mer for the maritime regions and POLMAR-Terre for the shoreline which were joined into the “Plan Polmar Guyane” in 2004.

The designated agency through which the Prefect may exercise civil authority is the Regional Board for Maritime Affairs (Direction Regionale des Affaires Maritime) whilst his military authority flows through Le Commandant de la Marine (COMAR).

In the event of an oil spillage within the jurisdiction of a port or harbour, the port authority would be responsible for overseeing and/or executing anti-pollution measures. In the case of a spill elsewhere the Maritime Prefect would mobilise the necessary resources, particularly le Service des Phares et Balises (the specialist department for lights and buoys) to deal with the incident unless the owner of the polluting vessel or installation was responding to the situation in an adequate manner. For a serious incident the Maritime Prefect has call upon civil, military and private resources either by contract or through a requisitioning procedure. In this event, the naval authorities through the Marine Nationale in Martinique would take a primary role in directing any response arrangements.

Additional assistance may be called from France (eg Centre de Documentation Recherche et d’Experimentations - CEDRE).

Response Policy

As in mainland France, the preferred cleanup technique is mechanical recovery, but the controlled use of dispersants is also accepted as an alternative approach.

Equipment

Government 

The French Administration has established Polmar stockpiles at Cayenne through the Marine Nationale and the Department for Lights and Buoys. The stockpiles include tugs, booms, skimming systems and barges, pressure cleaning units, sorbent, temporary storage and separation tanks. In addition, La Marine Nationale at the Naval Base has spray gear and dispersant. The armed forces can provide helicopters suitable for aerial reconnaissance.

Private

A consortium of importers of refined oil products, Societe Anonyme Raffineries Antillean (SARA) maintains a limited amount of equipment at Degrad des Cannes including dispersant spraying equipment. There are no specialised resources available for oil spill response outside the Cayenne area. 

Previous Spill Experience

There have been no major oil spills in French Guiana.

Compensation

* not yet in force 

Regional & Bilateral Agreements

Operative Network for Regional Cooperation among Maritime Authorities of South America, Mexico & Panama (ROCRAM).

Date of issue: June 2008