SALVAGE companies need to develop pre-arranged contracts with shipowners to co-ordinate wreckage removal and emergency response due to the complexity of recent marine disasters.
"It is insane what goes on - if a ship is on fire, owners will invite commercial offers, negotiate legal terms, and then exchange technical information, while the ship is burning," said Svitzer Salvage CEO Peter Pietka.
The Dutch-based salvage company told Lloyd's List such incidents were going down the scale, but today's environmental laws mean salvage operations are more complex and take longer.
In-and-out emergency-response companies have no such regulatory pressure, he said, but salvors are mandated to restore the environment to pristine conditions.
Svitzer Salvage took up the laborious and environmental sensitive job of clearing the 3,360-TEU Rena in New Zealand in emergency response rather than bid for the Costa Concordia contract which instead went to Crowley's Titan Salvage.
Mr Pietka said the US has led the way in dealing with environmental accidents through its Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) which followed the Exxon Valdez spill. This requires pre-contracts with salvors before tankers set sail in American waters.
"Preparedness programmes are the way forward," said Mr Pietka, of an industry which is broadly relying on pre-contract with little competition between emergency-response providers. "We need to move from a reactive to proactive approach".
New rules will apply in US waters from January, that will require non-tankers of more than 400 gross tons to have such agreements with salvage and marine firefighting providers.
Said Mr Pietka: "We have seen that it works. If you look at the number of incidents since OPA 90 was introduced, you can see that the safety and environmental impact record has dramatically improved."
WORLD SHIPPING
11 October 2013 - 21:33
Eco-laws prompt salvors to demand pre-contracts before shipping disasters
SALVAGE companies need to develop pre-arranged contracts with shipowners to co-ordinate wreckage removal and emergency response due to the complexity of recent marine disasters.
WORLD SHIPPING
11 October 2013 - 21:33
Eco-laws prompt salvors to demand pre-contracts before shipping disasters
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