By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. ACTIVATE US CURRENT PAGE 30 years of excellence OSRL was formed OSRL was formed from the pioneering work of British Petroleum's Oil Spill Service Centre, and was formally established in 1985 with funding support from four other international oil companies. 1985 Exxon Valdez Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef in Alaska, spilling nearly 38,000 tonnes of crude oil. We were among the first oil spill response organisations to arrive at the incident from outside of Alaska. 1989 First dedicated contract First dedicated contract for Hercules aircraft at Southampton base to improve the speed of response. 1990 Training department set up We set up a training department to share knowledge and experience from subject matter experts and responders within the industry. 1991 Established EARL East Asia Response Limited (EARL) was established in Singapore to respond to oil spills quickly in the Asia Pacific region. The shareholders of EARL consisted of BP Singapore, Caltex, Esso, Eastern, Mobil, Shell and BHP Billiton. 1992 MV Braer MV Braer, an oil tanker, ran aground in the Shetland Islands, UK 1993 Sea Empress Sea Empress, an oil tanker, spilled 72,000 tonnes of crude oil and bunkers after grounding at Milford Haven, Wales. OSRL supported the response with.the Hercules aerial dispersant platform and shoreline response equipment. 1996 Evoikos Evoikos, an oil tanker, collided with another empty tanker along the Straits of Singapore, spilling 28,000 tonnes of heavy oil. EARL was involved in containment and recovery operations. 1997 Erika Erika, an oil tanker, capsized at the Bay of Biscay, France, spilling almost 20,000 tonnes of heavy oil. We provided oil spill response specialists to assist with the clean-up of oil on the impacted rocky shorelines and beaches 1999 UK Response Service launched Our UK Response Service launched. This service provided Tier 2 response to ports and harbours around the United Kingdom. 1999 Alliance announced In January 2000, OSRL EARL announced an Alliance, which allows Members to access the resources of both organisations. 2000 Natuna Sea Natuna Sea, an oil tanker, was grounded at the Straits of Singapore. EARL's vessels, staff and contract workers assisted in the containment and recovery of spilled oil. 2000 UKCS launched UKCS Aerial Surveillance and Dispersant Service launched, to provide access to UK-approved dispersant for use in UKCS waters, including one verification and dispersant spray aircraft. 2001 Prestige Prestige, an oil tanker, sunk off the coast of Spain, spilling 64,000 tonnes of oil, affecting 2,900 km of coastline in France, Spain and Portugal. We provided on-site technical advice, specialised response services including aerial surveillance, shoreline response and waste management. 2002 Tasman Spirit Tasman Spirit, an oil tanker, was grounded in a channel at the Port of Karachi in Pakistan. We assisted in containment and deflection booming, dispersant spraying, skimming operations and shoreline clean-up. 2003 Office in Aberdeen We established an office in Aberdeen, which was officially opened in 2006 with two employees. 2005 Global Response Network set up The Global Response Network, a collaboration of major oil spill response organisations, was formed to share information, improve spill response performance and provide centres of expertise in spill preparedness, response and recovery techniques. 2005 OSRL and EARL merge OSRL and EARL, two of the largest oil spill response organisations in the world, merge to form OSRL/EARL. 2006 Joint Oiled Wildlife Service established Joint Oiled Wildlife Service established with Sea Alarm Foundation, enabling the skills and experience of the oil industry to be combined with environmental groups to assist and protect wildlife threatened by oil pollution. 2006 Newly-launched GI-WACAF We worked collaboratively with the newly-launched GI-WACAF project. The Global Initiative for West and Central Africa (GI WACAF) project is a collaboration between the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and IPIECA to enhance the capacity of countries for a response. 2006 On-site technical advisory service launched We launched an on-site technical advisory service to help establish the scale of the incident, assist in selection of response strategies and mobilise the appropriate resources 2007 Hebei Spirit Hebei Spirit, an oil tanker, collided with a crane barge in South Korea, spilling 10,500 tonnes of heavy oil. Our Hercules was deployed from Singapore for aerial dispersant application along with a team of eight responders from Singapore and Southampton. 2007 Office in Bahrain We established a base in Bahrain to be closer to Members in the Middle East and Africa. 2007 Office in Indonesia We established an office in Indonesia to serve the growing number of Members who are operating in the country. 2009 Montara Montara, an offshore platform off the North West coast of Australia experienced a blowout which spilled about 400 barrels per day of light crude oil into the Timor Sea. The well was successfully intercepted after 73 days. We performed aerial dispersant spraying, monitoring of dispersant effectiveness, containment and recovery as well as oil spill modeling. 2009 Resources and Service Alliance Along with AMOSC we established a Resources and Service Alliance. The agreement allows governments and Members in defined regional areas under AMOSC's operations to simultaneously gain access to our resources, expedite the callout process and shorten overall response lead times. 2009 Agreement signed with NOFO OSRL signs agreement with NOFO (Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies) to support Members in Norway. 2009 Macondo Macondo, an exploration well in the Gulf of Mexico suffered a subsea well blowout spilling crude oil into the Gulf for 87 days until the well was controlled. We supported strategic planning, liaison with stakeholders, Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Techniques (SCAT) activities, SMART fluorometry, aerial dispersant application, as well as providing 50% of our global stockpile of response equipment. 2010 Delivery of OSPRAG Delivery of OSPRAG well capping device for the UKCS region. The OSRPAG capping device was built to seal off an uncontrolled subsea well in the unlikely event of a major well control incident in UK waters. 2011 In-situ burning capability Implementation of in-situ burning capability as another option of removing oil spills at sea. 2011 MV Rena MV Rena, a container ship, was grounded off the coast of New Zealand, spilling 350-400 tonnes of heavy fuel oil off the culturally and environmentally sensitive shoreline. We provided technical support during the initial spill response and dispersant operations. Subsequently this role expanded to include shoreline operations, aerial support, and incident command support and shoreline protection. 2011 Bonga facility Bonga facility, at offshore Nigeria, leaked about 35,000barrels of oil during a transfer of crude oil from an FPSO to an oil tanker at the end of 2011. 50% of our equipment and wildlife responders were mobilised. 2011 Subsea Well Intervention Services introduced We introduced Subsea Well Intervention Services (SWIS) and opened dedicated SWIS facilities in Norway, Singapore and South Africa. SWIS is our dedicated subsea division providing an integrated intervention system (four Capping Stack Toolboxes and two Subsea Incident Response Toolkits). 2013 Merger We merged with Clean Caribbean and Americas (CCA), creating a truly global oil spill response resource. 2013 Implementation of Global Dispersant Stockpile Implementation of Global Dispersant Stockpile (GDS). Subscribers to the service have access to substantial amounts of dispersant stored at strategic global locations that can be used with the Subsea Incident Response Toolkits. 2013 Support JIP We support the OGP/IPIECA Joint Industry Project (JIP) and contributed to the launch of the Good Practice Guides. 2013 Rayong Rayong, Thailand, a leak from a single buoy mooring hose 30kms from the coast impacted nearby fisheries and tourism locations. We provided technical advice, aerial dispersant support as well as personnel to assist with Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Techniques (SCAT). 2013 Subsea Well Containment Toolkit Development of a Subsea Well Containment Toolkit enabling the flow of well hydrocarbons from the capping stack to an offloading tanker. 2014 Boeing 727 aerial dispersant platform Development of new Boeing 727 aerial dispersant platform to serve industry needs for high capacity aerial dispersant application and replace the current Hercules aerial dispersant platform. 2014 Sitemap Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions Cookie Policy Acceptable use policy Oil Spill Response Limited is wholly owned by the most responsible and environmentally committed oil and energy companies. © Copyright 2015. Oil Spill Response Limited. Lower William Street, Southampton, SO14 5QE, United Kingdom. Registered in England and Wales No.1808594 Designed and Developed by Merchant Marketing Group