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UK-headquartered Cockett Marine Oil has announced that its oil spill response arrangements, which form part of the company's Thames Estuary bunkers-only operations, have been granted high level safety accreditation.

The UK Spill Association (UKSpill), which is recognised by the UK environmental and maritime regulators as the national industry body, has accredited the spill response equipment and congratulated Cockett Marine Oil for the development of its local partnership concept.

Cockett Marine Oil is providing regulated fuelling for vessels from several agreed locations in the Thames estuary. The anchorages sit in deep and unobstructed waters, well sheltered from the prevailing weather by the south eastern hook of the Kent coast and offer a short deviation from the shipping lanes of the English Channel, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world.

Cockett Marine Oil's bunkers-only fuel operation in the Thames Estuary has been developed in response to the UK government's 'Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfer) Regulations'. The new legislation will ban all unregulated refuelling in UK waters unless it takes place in areas controlled and supervised by a port authority, in this case the Port of London Authority (PLA).

One element of the comprehensive spill response arrangements has been to work closely with inshore fishermen, each an expert on estuary and coastal waters. This has led to the adaptation of 10 fishing vessels to act as additional oil spill response vessels.

As well as making changes to the vessels, funding has been provided to facilitate the training of 30 local fishermen in oil spill response and pollution control. As a result the dedicated Cockett Marine Oil facilities will now be available for vessels passing through the Thames Estuary and English Channel, as well as other local marine based developments, such as wind farm activities, in the event of an incident.

The accreditation has been welcomed by Roy Stanbrook, PLA harbourmaster for the Thames Estuary area: “Cockett Marine Oil's approach to mitigating the risk of environmental damage is to be commended. The company's whole approach to ship-to-ship transfer has been ahead of the game and a model for other port authorities to consider putting in place.”

Robert Thompson, General Manager - Supply & Business Development at Cockett Marine Oil, said: “We have been providing a bunkers-only service in the Thames since 1 September without incident. However, we are delighted that the quality of the Tier 2 spill response systems we have put in place have been recognised by UKSpill and we can now make them available to help with any potential incidents from any other marine activity. It supplements the substantial and comprehensive 'Tier 1' response capability all of the Cockett operated vessels are also equipped with. The accreditation is a vote of confidence in our diligent and proactive approach, as well as our facilities and resources and should send a very positive message that we are committed to protecting the environment and providing a safe, regulated and controlled solution for a previously uncontrolled activity.

"Cockett Marine Oil's bunkers only service complements our Thames River bunker service which we have operated since 2009, a much needed and previously absent service, for one of the UK's most important commercial River and Port areas serving the nation's capital. This is again supported in terms of spill response capability by the substantial Thames based resource, which far exceeds statutory requirements."