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（3）シンガポール海事港湾庁
SINGAPORE'S CHEMICAL CONTINGENCY PLAN (MARINE)
by
Capt. Lim Khok Cheng
Controller (Marine Licensing)
Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
HNS Seminar@Langkawi 16 Nov 06
INTRODUCTION
1 Singapore is the world's busiest port with some 130,318 ships (> 75 GT) totaling to 1.15 billion gross tons, calling at the port in 2005. Under the surveillance of the Vessel Traffic Infomaton System (VTIS), shipmasters and pilots safely navigate their ships to and from the numerous terminals and anchorages in the port. At any time, there are about 1,000 ships in port.
2 In 2005, some 17,315 oil and chemical tankers called at the port. With the rapid development of Jurong Island into a major petrochemical/chemical hub, there will be an increase in the number of tanker calls. Substantial amounts of oil and chemicals will also be shipped in and out of the port. Given the high volume of marine traffic, Singapore must ensure that the safety of these ships is well managed and has the capabilities to provide prompt and effective response should a oil spill emergency occur. It is thus critical for us to have an effective chemical spill response capability in place.
3 This paper will briefly address the role of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the strategy to manage a marine emergency, specifically a chemical spill incident, the framework of the respective contingency plan and conduct of exercises. In addition, it would be useful to consider how countries could co-operate on a regional as well as international level to assist each other during a major chemical spill incident.
MPA's STRATEGY FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE
4 The MPA is the lead agency and chairs the Emergency Operations Committee (EOC) to mitigate and combat any chemical pollution at sea. The EOC led by MPA will take charge and co-ordinate the clean-up operations of any spill into the sea.
5 The MPA adopts a strategy of Prevention, Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Review or the 2Ps3Rs model for emergency response. This is summarised as follows:
a) Prevention is in the form of surveillance and legislation to prevent any incident.
b) Preparedness is contingency planning and conducting of exercises.
c) Response is activating the contingency plans and effectively responding to the incident.
d) Recovery is te take measures to return quickly to normalcy, thereby not affecting the port operations.
e) Review is to conduct a debrief or post-mortem so as to obtain feedback and to implement recommendations from lessons learnt.
6 Prevention is still the best strategy. Measures have been put in place to prevent any chemical spill incident. The Singapore Vessel Traffic Infomaton System (VTIS) is a multi-radar tracking system which can track some 1000 targets. The Automatic Identification System (AIS) has been fully implemented in 2004 to further enhance the safety of life at sea, the safety and efficiency of navigation and the protection of marine environment. With the sophisticated monitoring and prediction systems, the operators would be alerted by the system and this information would be relayed to the shipmasters. At least six enforcement patrol craft are deployed in the port to ensure that all ships and craft are in compliance with the port regulations. For pollution prevention, the MPA Inspectors conduct regular checks to ensure that safety measures for handling of chemicals at terminals are observed and complied with.
7 All tankers are closely monitored and tracked through the approaches to Singapore and the Singapore Strait. All chemical tankers are required to provide advance report to the MPA, of the details of the chemicals that are carried. Thus, MPA will be able to monitor the types and quantity of chemicals moving in the port at any time. Such information is critical should an incident occur on the ship.
CONTINGENCY PLANS
Chemical Contingency Plan (Marine)
8 The MPA has developed the Marine Emergency Action Procedure (MEAP) which covers many types of marine emergencies, such as collision, grounding, fire and on pollution. The Chemical Contingency Plan (Marine) is a supplement to the MEAP. This contingency plan is to deal with incidents involving bulk chemicals by ships at sea and at the terminals. This plan was developed by the MPA with the participation of governmental agencies (such as the NEA and the Singapore Civil Defence Force) and the Marine Terminal Emergency Response Committee (MTERC) of the Singapore Chemical Industry Council (SCIC). The industry players are very supportive and with their expertise on chemicals which they handle, they are called upon to be part of the Emergency Operations Committee (EOC) to provide technical advice to clean-up the spill expeditiously.
Tiered Response
9 Under the Chemical Contingency Plan (Marine), the MPA uses the concept of tiered response. The following categorisation of responses would be used to determine the resources to be mobilised and deployed:
a) Tier One Response
For accident or incident where the situation is controllable and can be coped effectively utilising the vessel's capability and the current resources of the port.
b) Tier Two Response
For accident or incident which is of serious consequences to lives and properties. Generally, the situation is contained at sea and would not extend te land or warrant mass evacuation of the population. The situation warrants the activation of the Emergency Operations Committee (EOC) and the Chemical Site Team. Assistance from the supporting agencies willl be called upon such as the National Environment Agency (NEA), Singapore Defence Force (SCDF, Hazmat Team), Singapore Police Force (SPF), Police Coast Guard (PCG), Meteorological Service, Singapore Chemical Industry Council (SCIC), salvage companies, cargo / shipowners and terminal operators.
Response Organisation
10 The MPA adopts an effective and efficient response organisation structure for managing any major marine emergency. This structure which is found in all its plans, comprises the following main cells:
a) Crisis Management Committee (CMC)
The CMC is the highest decision-making body in MPA's response organisation structure. It is led by MPA's Chief Executive and comprises MPA Directors and senior executives of supporting agencies. The CMC oversees the management of the entire incident.
b) Emergency Operations Committee (EOC)
The EOC, headed by MPA's Director (Port Division), takes care of on-scene and on-shore response operations for the entire incident. Senior MPA officers and senior operation executives of supporting agencies are members of the EOC.
c) Support Cells
The EOC is supported by the Casualty Management Cell, Next of Kin (NOK) Cell, Information and Media Management Cell, Logistic Management Cell and Policy Management Cell. Each Support Cell is headed by a Director or a senior officer, supported by senior operational staff from external supporting agencies.
d) Landwards Operations Committee (LOC)
For emergencies that involve a large number of casualties, the LOC will be set up at the designated point for landing the casualties. The LOC comprises representatives from the Singapore Police Force, hospitals and other land based units such as the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Singapore Armed Forces. The Chairman of the LOC is a Senior Officer from MPA. The MPA Casualty Management Cell oversees the operation of the LOC.
e) On-Scene-Commander(s)
The OSC is the overall officer-in-charge at the scene. For a marine emergency, MPA officer assumes the role of the OSC. For chemical spills where the chemical has reached the coast manpower from land authorities and their contractors could be under the charge of a Commander from the land side.
f) Rescue / Response Units
Rescue Units are government or private assets at the scene of the incident. Depending on the type of emergency, they may be craft from PSAC, Police Coast Guard (PCG), Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), Customs and private shipping firms besides those from MPA. Sometimes, aircraft are deployed. These craft work under the direction of the On-Scene-Commander (OSC) who reports directly to the EOC For a case of chemical pollution that affects the shore, the relevant authorities responsible for that part of the shoreline will oversee the cleaning up operation.
Response Operation
11 The following processes made up the activation and response to a marine emergency:
a) Notification
MPA is informed of an incident via its Port Operations' and Marine Safety Control Centres. The Marine Safety Section of Marine Environment and Safety Department in MPA is responsible for mobilisation and deployment of responses to any marine emergency.
b) Alert and Activation
Parties to the plan are first alerted and informed of the incident so that they could be prepared and be ready to be mobilised. The full tumout will be activated after the preliminary assessment by MPA officer (if informant is not a MPA staff). Auto-alphanumeric paging is used to alert parties of an incident.
c) Mobilization
After being put on alert and if the incident requires resources to be put on standby, they will first be mobilized, then deployed depending on the needs. If MPA's first response cannot cope with the incident, more mobilized government or privated resources will be deployed.
d) Response Action
The tacking of the situation e.g. in the ease of a chemical spill and monitor the effectiveness of response action.
e) Termination
The order for termination or suspension of response operation is given by the Chairman of the CMC as advisedby the Head of EOC.
NHS Seminar@Langkawai 16 Nov 06
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