scope:

1.1 Scope

Few would disagree with the notion that prevention is better than cure. However, oil spills are an inevitable consequence of the need to produce, store, and transport oil by sea. The occurrence of major oil spills with costly and far-reaching effects has created the need for cooperation between different countries, and between government and industry. Collaboration and pooled resources have fostered an integrated approach extending from contingency planning to spill response and compensation.

Historically, most medium and large spills (over 50 bbl or seven tonnes) have involved ships. The aim of this paper is to review, from a shipping perspective, the role of industry in dealing with oil pollution incidents arising from the transportation of oil. In this context, the shipping community is represented by the ship owners and operators, including some of the major oil companies. The wider oil industry also has separate involvement as owners of oil tanker cargoes and as oil importers. As a whole, the oil industry is composed of a disparate group of private and public organisations ranging from major oil companies to very small operators of individual tank farms, jetties, and other oil-handling facilities.

Oil spills also occur in connection with offshore exploration and production activities, but the relationship between government and oil industry in this type of spill response is less complex. Moreover, the salient points of such spills are similar to those discussed in this paper.

The title of the paper reflects the fact that oil spill preparedness and response are separate but inextricably linked issues. Conceptually, good preparation paves the way for an effective response; in an ideal world, both preparation and response aspects are given equal weight. In reality, however, preparedness activity often is compromised in countries with more pressing demands on finite funds and resources. Thus oil spill response alone must serve as the way of dealing with spills in countries that remain comparatively ill-prepared.