SOME THOUGHTS ON SALVAGE OPERATIONSDURING OIL SPILLS

摘要

Recent casualties have caused responseplanners, spill managers, underwriters, and governmentauthorities to closely examine the role of salvageoperations in the successful resolution of actual orpotential spill events. The integration of salvage operationswith oil spill response operations remains somewhat illdefined in the post-OPA 90 NIIMS based ICS responsesystem. The responses to the BUFFALO 292 andBUFFALO 286 oil spills demonstrated that a coordinated,well-conceived, and professionally executed salvageoperation can be conducted within the ICS framework. Asimilar response management model was used during thesuccessful emergency lightering of the grounded tankshipOVERSEAS VALDEZ. These operations spotlighted theefficacy of the maritime community’s implementation of theVessel Response Plan (VRP) requirements of the FederalWater Pollution Control Act, the successful integration ofsalvage operations into the incident command system, andthe benefits of prompt access to computerized damagestability and residual strength calculation programs.