FLEET / SAFETY LETTER 10.0001

Starting 1 July 2010, all vessels registered under the Vanuatu Flag that are required to maintain an Oil Record Book (ORB) pursuant to MARPOL must make the following entries:

1.   The different fuel oil grades (in terms of sulphur) content and amount ordered and place onboard the vessel’s for consumption.
2.   Record the date, time and position when the change over from high content sulphur fuel to low
      content sulphur fuel occurs and vice versa.
3.   Entry and exit of a SOX Emission Control Area (SECA)
4.   At both entry and exit from a SECA, the quantities of low sulphur fuels in each tank (storage, settling or service).

Re: Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - IMO circular

The Secretary General has received a communication for the Government of the United States inviting him to circulate the information reproduced below in relation to the explosion and sinking of the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, causing loss of life and severe oil pollution in the Guld of Mexico.

The U.S. Coast Guard is providing broadcast notices, NAVTEX, AIS messages and voice reports to mariners both in transit and when calling at U.S. ports in the gulf of Mexico to warn of the presence of the oil spill and to advise mariners of precautionary measures they can take to minimize threats to their vessels and to the marine environment.

in addition, websites have been esthablished to provide the latest information on the location  and projection for the location of the oil spill, information  on the  response measures taken and other information that may be of use to the IMO, Governments, ships and shipmasters operating in the area.
 The websites are:

http//www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov

Captain Michael DeCharles
Senior Manager, Safety, Security, Quality
and Regulatory Compliance