RMS St Helena - Doing our bit - Oil Pollution
In compliance with international guidelines for the prevention of oil pollution at sea, the RMS St. Helena has a fully approved and operational 'Oil Pollution Prevention Plan'. The plan sets out procedures for the handling of marine oil pollutants, the equipment required for handling them and emergency response procedures in the event that there is an accidental spill or discharge.
A comprehensive 'Oil Pollution Kit' is provided for containing any possible pollution related accidents that could occur. The ship's crew is fully versed in 'Oil Pollution Emergency Procedures' and regularly conduct emergency drills to ensure that a constant state of readiness is maintained.
In addition, oily water wastes, including the contents of Engine Room
bilges, which cannot be safely pumped overboard, are stored in slop
tanks until it can be pumped ashore to a marine waste reception
facility.
Oily water wastes, suitable for overboard discharge, is first passed
through an 'Oily Water Separator' where the oil content is monitored.
In the event that the oil content rises above 15ppm, and as an
automatic failsafe procedure, the system will immediately shut down,
stopping any further overboard discharge.
The RMS St Helena also handles the disposal of waste oil from the islands garages. Waste oil is collected and at regular intervals taken out to the RMS and pumped in to the ships waste oil sludge tank for pumping out at Cape Town with the ships own waste oil to a reception facility which returns it to the local refinery for processing.
