Dear Member of ISCO,
Since I last wrote, the following have been welcomed as new members of ISCO –
* Hamdan Al-Ghamdi (General Manager, Environmental Protection, Saudi Arabia)
* Sesmeke Environmental Services (Corporate Member, Turkey)
* Captain Thejo Sadhu Prakash (Individual Member, India)
* SpillGo Ltd. (Corporate Member, Ireland)
* Evolution Sorbent Products (Corporate Member, USA)
As reported in the ISCO Newsletter, an ISCO delegation attended the 8th meeting of the IMO OPRC-HNS Technical Group in London last week. Outcomes include –
1. ISCO is contributing to a working group to gather information needed for the development of IMO Technical Guidelines on Sunken Oil Assessment and Removal Techniques. The workscope involves the recovery of not only negative buoyancy oil from the seabed but also the recovery of oil from sunken vessels. Will ISCO members who have been involved in such operations please drop me a line and I shall write to you separately on this matter.
2. ISCO has also agreed to assist in an IMO initiative to gather information about experience gained and lessons learned in regard to response to Marine HNS Incident Response – both actual incidents and near-misses. Will ISCO members who have been involved in such operations please drop me a line and I shall write to you separately on this matter.
3. In association with our sister organisation – The International Spill Accreditation Association (ISAA) – ISCO is to submit a paper to the next IMO OPRC-HNS TG meeting on the training and accreditation of inland responders to help answer the shortage of qualified people available to manage large numbers of volunteers and other inexperienced personnel in shoreline clean-up operations.
Looking particularly at (1) and (2) above, this is an opportunity for involved companies and consultants to raise their profiles at IMO as I’m sure that contributions will figure in subsequent reports and publications. Governments and other entities will be informed on who has the relevant knowledge and experience.
All of the above initiatives help to raise the profile of ISCO and reinforce the value of the organization as a point of contact for sourcing needed expertise and products in future emergencies.
On a related point, through the Newsletter and New Technology website pages, ISCO can help you to tell the world about new techniques and products. It is part of our remit to do this and you can benefit.
The ISCO website is based on a software programme called Joomla and I’m still very much on a learning curve. If any of you (or any member of your staff) is willing to help with uploading documents on the website, I would be extremely pleased to hear from you.
Finally, a few reminders …
* Some members have not yet registered on the website. You need to do this in order to access the Members’ Area.
* Corporate members can place free advertisements in the Supplies & Services Section of the Public Area of the ISCO website. Contact the Secretary for details.
* IMO is looking to ISCO for qualified individuals to support its Technical Co-operation Programme, helping third world countries to implement OPRC and other conventions. Day rate, travel and subsistence costs are payable to selected candidates. For more info, contact ISCO Secretary.
* We would like to include a few words about yourself (or your company if you’re a Corporate Member) under your name in the list of ISCO members. This is by way of an introduction to help members to get to know each other. If you wish, you can include your Email and/or other contact details.
* On the matter of outstanding subscriptions, I have been over the top with work but this is now a priority. If your subscription is not up to date, please correct this now. I really don’t want to have to terminate any memberships.
Kind regards
John
