National OPRC Training Course in Turkey

Viewing equipment at Izmit Refinery

Peter Taylor represented the Oil Spill Preparedness Regional Initiative (OSPRI) at a national OPRC Training Course for Turkey, held in Istanbul. The event was organized jointly by the Turkish Undersecretariat for Maritime Affairs and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and hosted in the offices of the Coastal Safety and Salvage Administration (CSSA).

Peter worked with John Østergaard (IMO) and Richard Johnson (International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, ITOPF) to deliver the training. All aspects of oil spill planning, response and management were addressed during the 5-day course, whose programme was tailored from IMO’s Level 2 and Level 3 Model Courses. A half-day visit was arranged to the Tüpras Izmit Refinery to learn about their emergency planning and view their oil spill response equipment.

Peter enjoys a lunch with fellow presenters and senior course participants

There were 33 participants at the event, which was designed to help the Turkish administration in its development of oil spill related legislation and a national oil spill contingency plan. Ms. Füsun Gençer from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry gave a presentation outlining current Turkish legislation. The ‘Act on Guidelines for Response to Emergencies and Compensation of Losses in Case of Pollution of the Marine Environment from Oil and other Harmful Substances’ (Law 5312) was passed in Turkey in 2005; the administration is now working on detailed secondary regulations and this course was regarded as a very useful event to support this progress. Responder Companion CDs, containing extensive IMO, ITOPF and IPIECA reference materials plus the Oil Spill Training Company’s electronic Toolkits, were presented to each participant during the award of certificates.