Many vessels fail Calif. oil spill notification inspections

Less than 15 percent of inspected oceangoing vessels calling at California ports are capable of making proper emergency oil spill notification, according to state inspectors.

Twenty-one of 164 vessels given spot inspections by state officials over the past three years were lacking the ability to make the notifications within the 30-minute time frame set down by a state law covering maritime oil spill procedures.

The vessels?crews were required to demonstrate during the inspections that four notification calls could be made within the time limit.

The inspections, detailed by the Sacramento Bee, found that in many of the failed inspections, vessel crews were unable to locate the proper phone numbers or the crews simply did not understand the law.

The law applies to an estimated 7,400 vessels in the worldwide maritime fleet.

Prompt notification is often a critical factor giving emergency responders the ability to dispatch equipment in a timely manner.

This is about making a phone call. Nobody should be failing that basic test,Linda Sheehan, executive director of the California Coastkeeper Alliance told the Bee. This really calls into question whether or not they can respond in a timely manner to the spill itself.

Source: American Shipper