Last line of defence

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Oil & Gas Middle East speaks to the region’s leading oil response firms in Fujairah, Dubai and Bahrain

Protecting the waters that surround the region is a critical task. The volume of oil and refined goods passing through the region’s sea lanes and terminals is huge, and set to grow. With Fujairah playing host to one of the worlds largest and busiest loading terminals, and the Gulf waters responsible for vast quantities of oil bound for international markets, the risk is high, and the potential for a catastrophe ever present.

The best response teams dotted from throughout the UAE and Bahrain are prepared for the worst, and are in a permanent state of readiness to respond to a large disaster or a small spill. Oil & Gas Middle East met the region’s leading players who provide that crucial last line of defence.

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FAIRDEAL

Abdalla El-Sulaiman, manager, environmental affairs, Fairdeal spoke to Oil & Gas Middle East from his company’s Fujairah port HQ.

“We were the first private oil spill response firm to set up in the region, and our spill response capability in the UAE has continued to grow, and Fairdeal has been able to offer on the spot assistance, for the last 15 years.”

The response capability has been steadily expanded and fine-tuned over the years, based on our improved state-of-the-art anti-pollution inventory, including a dedicated fleet of anti-pollution vessels, continuous training and on-site exercises all combined to guarantee the efficiency of its spill response package.

“An immediate response and the rapid deployment of specialised, appropriate equipment are the requirements for a successful containment and clean-up. We have successfully combined these two features by introducing a Spill Response Terminal, available on a 24 hour basis for immediate response. The terminal is equipped with skimming vessels, booms, dispersants and an inventory of ancillary equipment essential when dealing with an oil pollution incident,” says El-Suleiman.

Fairdeal offers a comprehensive package of support services including boom storage, ship-to-ship standby operations, offshore oil spill recovery and shoreline protection.

In addition to these activities, the firm noticed a gap in the market back in 1985, and can also process and safely remove slops from passing vessels, and clean up captured oil from spills. “An absence of reception facilities influenced the company to establish such a service. Fairdeal developed its own technology on board existing tankers converting them into high-volume slop oil separators.”

El-Suleiman says the company’s scientific staff and technicians continue to develop and improve floating slops reception and treatment facilities. Strategically positioned at the entrance of the ROPME Sea Area, Fairdeal provides the main slops reception solution for passing vessels either inbound or outbound, offering full services on a 24 hour basis.

SEACOR

Understanding what people need in terms of their spill response preparation and activation of response systems is an area which firms have difficulty with in the Middle East, says Alex Spence, regional general manager, Seacor Environmental Services.

“For firms who have not historically been involved in dealing with oil spills, time and again we see companies that do not have a proper understanding of what their requirements are. Often the wrong equipment or the wrong type, or the wrong size in the wrong location means companies don’t actually have a real response capability to be able to protect them, and we can help with that.”

Seacor as a group works across a broad range of HSE related sectors. In addition to oil spills response the firm specialises in hazardous materials and chemicals response and fire fighting

The company has steadily grown the mitigation side of the business, and engages in a significant amount of training courses. “Over the last five years we have trained upwards of 300 people per year at all levels. All the way up to the senior executive and crisis management courses. A big part of that is not only the education of the clients but also the governments and the general public,” reveals Spence.

For a simple crisis management emergency response structure Spence recommends three main levels.

“There is the tactical response, which covers the operational people on the ground, the people physically cleaning up the oil. The level above them is the incident management team, and this is the companies or governments management team that oversees what is being done to clean up the oil. They are in an office co-ordinating the support and resources. The level above that is the crisis management team that works across looking at the strategy for the company or the government in dealing with these issues,” The management team can find themselves dealing with media liaison and sometimes reputation management.

“One big thing we are able to do is bring a number of years of experience working under different strategies across globe. Having the ability to deliver people at the tactical, incident management and the crisis management teams is something that no other company in the region can claim.”

Seacor is going through an exciting phase with its oil spill response work, and is targeting the National Oil Companies as strategic partners. “We recently signed a very major contract with ADNOC for the provision of Tier 2 and Tier 3 oil spill response – Essentially the very major incidents,” he reveals.

As part of the agreement Seacor will provide ADNOC with the ability to skill their staff by using them in other Seacor offices around the world, so they get the experience and skills from other places.

“We have been working with a number of the other national oil companies in this region and outside it, in trying to implement something similar. Instead of it being a traditional model where they are simply paying a retainer and waiting for something to go wrong, we are working with them on a daily basis to help improve their response capability to help work with their people and help develop their systems and standards,” adds Spence.

Spence offers some sound advice for any environmental or marine officers. “The most important thing people should do is ask for advice about the equipment before they buy it, from someone who is not a supplier or manufacturer. Countless times we see the wrong equipment in the wrong place, and although there is equipment there, it really won’t protect whoever is trying to use it.”