Seminar Overview | Seminar Timetable | Seminar Presenters


The Response Issues Seminar has been developed to coincide with Spillcon 2002 in order to draw upon the availability of overseas speakers and attendees at the Conference to speak at the Seminar.

The speakers and the organisations they represent have been involved in many major international incidents, including the "Sea Empress" spill off Milford Haven, Wales, the "Exxon Valdez" spill in Alaska, the Gulf War Spill, the "Evoikos" and "Natuna Sea" spills and many others. Seminar organisers propose to draw upon this experience and knowledge by having the presenters speak candidly about their role in these incidents. The information and discussion will enhance the ability of Australian and other responders to deal with major oil spills.

The structure of the seminar has been designed to cover the overall theme of operational response to major oil spills. A range of sub-elements will be covered by this theme, namely:

Successful Outcomes and Opportunities for Improvement
The presenters will speak on a range of spills with which they have been involved. They will provide an overview on the successes that occurred and of the opportunities for improvement, ie issues in need of attention if they are to be dealt with successfully in future.

Practical Improvisation
Responders will not always have access to purpose designed and built oil spill response equipment. Nor will they always have sufficient equipment of this type. At times necessity is the mother of all inventions and responders will be called up to display initiative and improvise. The presenters will speak of their experiences, including those from the Gulf War Spill, in adapting non-specialist equipment and other items to meet their needs.

Post Spill Resource Cleanup
Responding to a spill will inevitably result in equipment and other resources becoming covered in oil, dirt and grime. The need, indeed the time required, to clean and restore the equipment after use can be overlooked during the response component of a spill. The presenter will speak of his experience during the "Sea Empress" and other incidents in planning for and carrying out the post response cleanup of equipment and other resources.

Reimbursement Issues
When a spill occurs and a response is put in place to deal with the problem, costs are incurred. For many incidents the costs can run into millions of dollars. Someone has to pay for the actions taken by response agencies. The presenter will speak of her personal role and that of her organisation in attending incidents and providing technical advice to response managers. The presentation will also address cost reimbursement, including the issue of "reasonableness", ie actions taken were reasonable and costs associated with an action may be reimbursed. The corollary of this is that actions that are not considered reasonable may not be reimbursed and the presenter will speak on this issue also.

Equipment
Oil spill response equipment is designed to achieve an outcome; in most cases if used correctly it will do as intended. If not used correctly it is unlikely to provide the desired outcomes. Two of the presenters are users of equipment and will speak of their experiences. The third speaker has many years experience in the manufacture and use of equipment. He will provide advice on equipment capabilities, including their strengths and limitations. His advice will provide general guidance to response personnel in the correct use of control and recovery and other equipment.

Session Chairs
Session Chairs have been nominated to facilitate presentations. Each will be a senior person within their organisation and will represent the Australian ports, the oil industry and Australian State government agencies. Apart from facilitating presentations in each of the sessions they will facilitate questions at the end of each session. A minimum of 15 minutes has been allowed for questions.

Panel Session
To round the day off, all presenters will attend a panel session facilitated by a senior representative of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The panel session will provide the opportunity for interactive debate between presenters and Seminar participants and any last minute questions participants may wish to ask.