Statutory Alert: SOPEP – list of national contacts.
27 January, 2015
Applicability: Shipowners and managers
All ships 400gt and over and all oil tankers 150gt and over are required by the MARPOL Convention to carry a Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP) and/or Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plan (SMPEP).
MARPOL requires these plans to include an up-to-date list of agencies or administration officials responsible for receiving and processing reports of pollution incidents.
The list is also available online, on the IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS). To access it, log in or register at https://gisis.imo.org/Public/Default.aspx, select ‘Contact Points’ and then select ‘National operational contact points responsible for the receipt, transmission and processing of urgent reports on incidents involving harmful substances, including oil from ships to coastal states’. This online list is updated every quarter and includes an Annex of changes made since the previous release.
SOPEPs containing out-of-date lists of national contacts are a common port state control inspection deficiency. Owners and managers should ensure that their ships’ SOPEPs and SMPEPs are kept up to date.
For further information
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