Viet Nam Readies for Oil Spill Contingency

Work is underway to further develop Viet Nam’s national oil spill contingency plan at a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, this week (26-29 November).

Forty participants from across 10 government departments and the oil and gas and shipping industry are taking part in the workshop, which is the latest in a series of International Maritime Organization (IMO)-assisted events on oil spill contingency in South-East Asia.

Participants are being introduced to international good practices and developments in the field of oil spill preparedness and response – and supported to identify areas for improvement in Viet Nam’s existing national framework.

An action plan to finalize the draft National Oil Spill Contingency Plan will be agreed.

Accession to IMO’s Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC) Convention was also discussed, as part of Viet Nam’s plan to become a party to the treaty.

Under the convention, countries are required to establish measures for dealing with pollution incidents, either nationally or in cooperation with other countries.

The workshop was organized under the framework of the Global Initiative project for South East Asia (GI SEA), a joint project with the oil and gas industry (IPIECA), which supports implementation of OPRC Convention.