Statutory Alert: SOPEP – list of national contacts.
02 March 2021
Applicability: shipowners and ship managers.
The MARPOL Convention requires all ships of 400gt and over and all oil tankers of 150gt and over to carry a Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP) and/or Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plan (SMPEP). These plans must also include an up-to-date list of agencies or administration officials responsible for receiving and processing reports of pollution incidents.
IMO List of National Operational Contact Points
This required list of national contacts is published annually as a Circular by the IMO; the latest version can be found here.
The list is also available online via the IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS). To access it, log in or register (please click here), 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.
What should shipowners and managers do now?
Shipowners and managers should ensure that their ships’ SOPEPs and SMPEPs are kept up to date as required by the MARPOL Convention. Shipboard pollution emergency plans with out-of-date lists of national contacts are a common Port State Control inspection deficiency.
Further information
For more details please contact your local Lloyd’s Register group office or Statutory support.