Oil Spill Response, formally known as Oil Spill Response and East Asia Response Limited (OSRL/EARL), is a non-profit making organisation that is wholly owned by the oil industry, and exists to respond effectively to oil spills wherever they occur. Membership is representative of the world’s most environmentally responsible oil companies, accounting for over 60% of global oil production. Operating as a single business from the United Kingdom, Bahrain and Singapore, it is the largest international oil spill response co-operative, and the only one with a global remit.

In 2005, Sea Alarm and Oil Spill Response entered into an agreement that paved the way for a joint long-term programme, which aims to develop a wide range of oiled wildlife response and preparedness activities on a global scale. This agreement linked a global oil industry response network (Oil Spill Response) with a global oiled wildlife response network (Sea Alarm). Both organisations are committed to working together to expand global capacity to effectively deal with oiled wildlife emergencies and to making a response network available to Oil Spill Response members. The agreement has enabled Sea Alarm to consolidate its independent facilitating role and also to expand its activities.

The main components of the joint programme between Sea Alarm and Oil Spill Response are:

Emergency Response
Sea Alarm is on-call 24 hours 7 days a week to receive notifications of oiled wildlife incidents and requests for assistance.

Train and coordinate wildlife response teams
In cooperation with Oil Spill Response, Sea Alarm is training and coordinating a core group of experienced oiled wildlife responders. This coordinated network of global experts is ready to respond individually or collectively to an oil spill emergency within hours, in any country of the world. Training events and exercises were held in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Stockpile of essential wildlife response equipment
Response equipment is stockpiled in Oil Spill Response’s warehouse in the UK, and will soon also be stored in Bahrain and Singapore. All the equipment has been pre-packaged and customs-cleared, enabling it to be sent out around the world at a moment’s notice.

Develop a database with country preparedness information
Sea Alarm is expanding its own database to include Country Wildlife Response Profiles. These profiles, which will eventually include all of the coastal countries or regions in the world, complement the information in ITOPF’s Country Profiles and provide key information on a country’s level of preparedness for oiled wildlife responses.