Japan’s Initiatives in Prevention and Clean-up Spilt Oil/HNS in Light of the OPRC
Convention
Tomoyuki Ishizuka, Division HeadMarine Environment Protection & Disaster Prevention Division,
Guard and Rescue Department,
Japan Coast Guard

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Slide3:The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) endeavors to grasp the occurrence of marine pollution
through surveys and controls based on surveillance by patrol vessels and aircraft andcalls to the emergency phone number (118), as well as through survey vessels.
The number of marine pollution cases that the JCG confirmed in 2014 was 380. The
number has generally hovered at 300 to 500 level over the past decade.
The number of confirmed marine pollution cases by type, oil pollution tops the list,accounting for more than half of all cases.
For preparedness and response to marine oil pollution, the OPRC Convention stipulates
that each country’ response setup should be strengthened and an international
cooperation setup also should be.
Slide 4:
I would like to explain the outline of the OPRC Convention according to the flow
diagram in the slide.
As you are aware, the OPRC Convention is an international treaty aimed at developingan international cooperation system to respond to large-scale oil spill incidents.
In the event of an oil spill incident, the ship master or other responsible persons must
report to the coastal countries pursuant to Article 4 of the Convention. The coastal
countries that receive the report shall inform all countries that will be affected by thepollution incident, in accordance with Article 5. Furthermore, the parties to theConvention must provide information of the pollution incident to the IMO. If a country
wishes to request the assistance of other countries, it may request assistance from otherparties to the Convention in accordance with Article 7. The parties that received therequest can provide assistance such as dispatching equipment and experts to the extent
possible.
Pursuant to Article 6, the parties to the OPRC Convention must establish a nationalsystem to respond promptly and effectively to oil pollution incidents. To be specific, thisshall mean designating authorities and counterparts, formulating national contingency
plans, reserving equipment and training.
On the other hand, the OPRC Convention also stipulates that parties to the Convention
should endeavor to conclude bilateral or multilateral agreements in responding topollution incidents.
Thus, in this presentation I would like to explain the outline of Japan’s National
Contingency Plan and about NOWPAP, which is a regional agreement that Japan is aparty to, as well as about the National Strike Team, which was established after theOPRC Convention came into effect.
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In Japan, the following plans for the preparation of a system and equipment to combat
oil spill incidents have been formulated from their respective perspectives and areharmonized with each other: the Basic Plan for Disaster Prevention, the OperationalPlan for Disaster Prevention, the Local Plan for Disaster Prevention, based on theDisaster Countermeasures Basic Act; the Plan for the Cleaning of Spilled Oil based onthe Law Relating to the Prevention of Marine Pollution and Maritime Disaster; thePlan for Disaster Prevention for Petroleum Industrial Complexes based on the Law onthe Prevention of Disaster in Petroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum
Facilities; and the Basic Environment Plan based on the Basic Environment Law.
The National Contingency Plan (National Contingency Plan for Oil Pollution
Preparedness and Response) based on the OPRC Convention summarizes these existingplans into one plan.
Slide 7:
I would like to introduce the history of the formulation of the NCP.

The OPRC Convention was adopted by IMO in 1990.
Since Article 6 of the OPRC Convention prescribes that a national contingency planshould be established, Japan formulated its National Contingency Plan in order toratify the OPRC Convention, and the Plan was approved at a Cabinet meeting inDecember 1995.
Followed by the Nakhodka incident in 1997, the NCP was amended to clarify animmediate response system, cooperation and role sharing in the event of an oil pollution
incident.
About 10 years later, the NCP was amended to expand the target range of substances to“oil, noxious liquid substances, hazardous substances, and other substances,” inpreparation for the effectuation of the OPRC-HNS Protocol. This is the current versionof the NCP.
Slide 8:The contents of the NCP can be divided broadly into “preparedness” for incidents and“response” after the occurrence of incidents.
With regard to “preparedness,” the NCP includes matters such as a comprehensive
collection of information continual, a response system such as keeping patrol vessels
and aircraft available for 24 hours, the establishment of a communication system, thepreparation of necessary equipment at relevant organizations, training with therelevant organizations, and cooperation with neighboring countries.
With regard to “response,” the NCP comprehensively stipulates specific step-by-stepmeasures that should be implemented by the national government agencies and local
governments from the occurrence of a pollution incident to observation after theincident.
Slide 9:I would now like to explain the measures on “response” based on the Law Relating tothe Prevention of Marine Pollution and Maritime Disaster in a flowchart.
In the event of an oil spill incident, the obligation to report and take emergency cleaningmeasures is primarily borne by the party that caused the incident.
The party that caused the incident must respond the spilled oil by themselves as well as
by entering into a clean-up agreement with private organizations that carry out oilclean-up (such as the Maritime Disaster Prevention Center).
On the other hand, the JCG, upon receiving a report, can order the party with response
obligation to carry out cleaning measures if the party is deemed not to have taken suchmeasures.
In addition, if there is need to take emergency response measures, the JCG canimplement such measures or instruct a designated maritime disaster prevention
organization to do so. Furthermore, the JCG requests cleaning to relevant government
agencies and restricts navigation in the sea area of the site as necessary.
The law also requires to take into consideration the rescue of wildlife, implementationof fishing ground conservation measures, measures for preventing dangers, and healthcare and safety of responders.
Relevant government agencies are also required to take prompt and adequate responses
in publicizing the incident.
Observation after the incident and other matters shall also be made as necessary.

Slide10:InJapan,response

systems

includingtheestablishmentofmeetings

andcountermeasure headquarters in the event of an oil spill incident are stipulated asshown in the slide in proportion with the scale of the incident and the degree of damage
and social impact.
The system starts with a “meeting among national government agencies,” aimed atconfirming, sharing and coordinating primary information on the damage by theincident. As the scale of the incident grows, the system develops to the establishment ofa “Precautionary HQ,” the assembling of an “Emergency Response Team,” and finally tothe establishment of a “Disaster Countermeasures HQ” under the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, headed by the Minister if it is deemed thatlarge-scale damage has occurred.

Slide11:
I would like to introduce examples of past responses in line with the flow of the NCP.
In July 1997, there was an incident called the Diamond Grace accident.
The Diamond Grace was a crude oil tanker of Panamanian registry with a tonnage of147,012 tons and loaded with 250,000 tons of crude oil, en route from the UAE to theKeihin Kawasaki Sea Berth in Tokyo Bay.
Around 10:05 a.m. of July 2, the tanker struck a sand bank southwest of the Nakanoseroute of Tokyo Bay after passing the Uraga Channel. This holed the hull of the ship on
the starboard side, causing approximately 1,550 kiloliters of the cargo oil to spill.

Slide12:After the occurrence of the accident, the government responded by summoning ameeting among national government agencies and establishing a Precautionary HQheaded by the Commandant of JCG, in line with the flow of the NCP.
Due to the scale of the incident, the Precautionary HQ as set forth in the NCP was later
re-organizedastheDisaster

Countermeasures

HQ

based

on

theDisaster

Countermeasures Basic Act, in order for the government to take national
comprehensive response measures. The cleaning activities were carried out by the JCG,
Maritime Self Defense Forces, the Port and Harbor Authority of the Ministry ofTransport (at the time), the Maritime Disaster Prevention Center, etc.
The photos on the right show the response operations on the sea and land.
As a result of response activities, the dense portion of the drifting oil was mostly
recovered by July 4, and there was no longer notable drifting oil in Tokyo Bay after themorning of July 6. The Disaster Countermeasures HQ was closed on July 11.
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The UNEP action plan started in 1974 as a regional approach to manage marine andcoastal resources and control marine pollution.
The action plan is currently formulated in 14 sea areas, with more than 140 coastalstates and regions participating.
In the event of a large-scale oil spill incident, the impact may not be limited to one
country but may spread over several countries. In order to minimize the damage, it isnecessary for countries to cooperate with each other in responding to such an incident.
For this reason, Japan endeavors to establish a system for relevant countries tocooperate in responding to incidents by participating in the Northwest Pacific Action
Plan (NOWPAP), which aims to preserve the marine environment in the Sea of Japanand the Yellow Sea and is promoted with the neighboring countries of South Korea,
China and Russia.
Slide 15:In September 1994, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia held an inter-governmental
meeting and agreed to make efforts in NOWPAP, one of the action plans promoted by

the UN Environmental Program.
An area sea action plan is a regional approach that aims to manage marine pollution ofa closed water area.
NOWPAP aims to preserve the marine environment of the Sea of Japan and the Yellow
Sea, and carries out activities such as establishing a database on the marine
environment, monitoring pollution, and performing emergency response to marine
pollution through its four regional activity centers.
Emergency response to marine pollution by oil or HNS is carried out by MERRAC, thesecretariat of which is established at the Marine and Ocean Engineering ResearchInstitute of the Korea institute of Ocean Science & Technology in Daejeon, South Korea.
MERRAC carries out the following two major activities in on response:
1) Formulating and managing contingency plans and related manuals and guidelines
for large-scale oil/HNS spills in the NOWPAP region; and2) Implementing training aimed at strengthening cooperation and improving response
capabilities in an emergency.

Slide 16:With regard to the contingency plan, which is one of NOWPAP’s initiatives, the member
countries of NOWPAP can request paid-for support from other member countries for oil
spill incidents of the Tier 3 level, which is a level that exceeds the response capacity ofone country. The contingency plan stipulates procedures for member countries to offer
assistance to the extent possible in their own oil pollution response system.
The formulation of this plan started at MERRAC in 1997. The plan was approved andbegan operation in 2004.
Subsequently, the scope of application was expanded in 2006 to prepare for cases of oil
spill events from the oil production area in the northeast part of Sakhalin.
After the OPRC-HNS Protocol came into effect in 2007, NOWPAP also considered
including HNS in its target substances, and added HNS in 2008.
MERRAC continues to manage NOWPAP’s contingency plan while making minor
amendments.
Slide 17:
Outline of the incident
On December 7, 2007, HEBEI SPIRIT (146,000 tons), a tanker of Hong Kong registry

that was in harbor, and a crane salvage barge that was being towed by a tug boat
collided off the coast of South Korea’s Taean peninsula, causing approximately 12,547 kl
of crude oil of the 302,641 kl of total crude oil cargo to spill.
Although the South Korean government issued a “declaration of a national disastercrisis” and employed all of the country’s disaster prevention organizations to the oil spillincident, the damage was serious and prompted the government to request NOWPAP toimplement the NOWPAP contingency plan as well as request our government’semergency aid.
Based on this request, we decided to send 10 tons of oil absorbents and the Japan
Disaster Relief Team without compensation, in order to assist in oil responding
activities in the damage-stricken area. It was also decided that three JCG staff (ofwhich two were NST members) and one staff of the Maritime Disaster Prevention
Center would participate for nine days.
Subsequently, due to the activities of the Japan Disaster Relief Team, the South Korean
government and many volunteers, the majority of the oil pollution in the coastal region
was removed in about a month from the accident, and the NOWPAP contingency plan
was called off on January 14 of the following year.
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The second major initiative is implementing joint training aimed at strengthening
cooperation and improving response capabilities in an emergency.
Since pollution of the marine environment by oil or HNS not only affects Japan but alsosurrounding coastal countries, it is important to make responses in cooperation withother countries.
Therefore, we have been co-hosting joint response training every two years tostrengthen cooperation with the relevant countries and improving response capabilities.
In October 2014, the 5th Japan Russia joint response training was carried out in
Vladivostok, Russia under the NOWPAP framework. JCG sent a delegate as well as
patrol vessels and helicopters, and made efforts not only in improving response
capabilities but also in strengthening coordination and cooperation with relevantorganizations.
Since international cooperation on response at NOWPAP is based on compliance withthe laws and regulations of the country that requested assistance, such training will
clarify the kind of procedures that will become necessary for moving ships andequipment across borders, as well as enable the responsible staff of the relevantorganizations that respond the oil spill to get acquainted with each other and offer them

opportunities to exchange and share information.

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A National Strike Team (NST) is a really professional team for responding oil and HNS
pollution, and maritime fires.
I would like to explain the history of the NST.
The NST was established in 1995, followed by the ratification of the OPRC Convention
in the same year, with eight members in two teams, under the Disaster Prevention
Office, Search and Rescue Division of the 3rd Regional HQ, aiming to strengthen themaritime disaster prevention capability both for domestic and internationalcooperation.
Subsequently, following large-scale oil spill incidents such as heavy oil spill incident ofRussian tanker Nakhodka on the Sea of Japan and crude oil spill incident of theDiamond Grace in Tokyo Bay in 1997, one team (4 members) was added in 1998 and theYokohama NST Station was newly created as an office of the 3rd Regional HQ.
Furthermore, one team (4 members) was added in 2007 followed by the ratification ofthe OPRC-HNS Protocol to constitute the current 4-team, 16-member system in order tostrengthen the capability so as to be able to respond to HNS in addition to oil pollutions.
The NST commemorated its 20 year anniversary in 2015.
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Let me explain the organization of the NST.
The Yokohama NST Station, which belongs to the 3rd Regional HQ, is the soleorganization within the JCG in the country.
The station is headed by the Chief, the station consists of a Deputy Chief, who is incharge of clerical work, and Administration coordinator, and NSTs that consist of fourteams.
A team consists of four persons; a captain, a vice-captain and two members, totaling asmall number of 16 persons. Members are selected from Coast Guard officers all overthe country that excel in knowledge, experience and skill such as expert divers, those in
the rescue and disaster prevention divisions on land as well as persons experienced in
fire-barge operation. Activities of NST are available for 24 hours, 365 days a year.

Slide 22:
The major activities of NST are:
1. To be dispatched by the request from the site, where major oil spill from vessels andmarine facilities, spill of hazardous materials, maritime fires, and take proper
measures.
2. Minimizing marine disasters make effort of response and coordination for parties
related incidents within and out of JCG including party caused incident.
3. Using professional skill and equipment, respond against incidents like HNS spills.

Slide 23:
This trend diagram shows the number of dispatches since the establishment of the NST.
Although the number varies from year to year, the average is around 17 per year, or 1 to
2 a month. (The average number of days dispatched for each case in the past five years:
3.46 days)
As you can see, the percentage of spilled oil response cases is the highest.
Slide 24:
I would now like to explain about international cooperation.
All members of the NST are registered as member of Japan Disaster Relief (JDR)
Teams.
JDR teams are dispatched when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deems it appropriate
upon being requested by the government of the disaster-stricken country.
NST has been dispatched four times in the past as JDR: once to Singapore, once toSouth Korea and twice to the Philippines.
The dispatch to South Korea in 2007 was for the oil spill incident of the HEIBEI SPIRIT,
which I explained in the previous slide.
The latest dispatch was in 2013 when a huge typhoon hit the east coast of Philippinesand destroyed a barge with a power generating facility and approximately 850 kl ofheavy oil flowed out from her fuel tank.
Two NST members were sent to the site by request of the government of the Philippines,
and provided technical support on oil spill response towards to the Philippines Coast
Guard.

Slide 25:
I will touch upon other activity of NST on cooperation. In JAN 2013, two members of
NST were sent to Sri Lanka for technical assistance to the Sri Lanka Coast Guard. Thisfour weeks service was initiated by the request of Sri Lanka Government through
JAICA who executes Japan’s ODA activity unifiedly.
During their stay in the site, they did technical training including lectures on OSR.
This year, January 2016, JCG HQ staff and NST member has been there for one monthtechnical assistance.
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