Oil spill incident in Amsterdam

Sea Alarm is assisting with cost recovery procedures for a small oiled wildlife incident in the Netherlands. In early January, a collision between two oil tankers caused a leak of approximately 1000m3 of fuel oil into Mercury Harbour, Amsterdam.Strong winds spread the oil over a wide area including parts of the North Sea Canal which connects Amsterdam with the North Sea. The Dutch network of wildlife responders (SON – Stichting Olievogelopvang Nederland) mobilised to provide a joint wildlife rescue and rehabilitation effort for birds affected by the spill. In total 93 birds were captured and transported to different SON centres where the majority were washed and released. The Dutch authorities coordinating the overall response and clean-up operations liaised with the ship insurers. Sea Alarm made sure that the SON rehabilitation activities became known and recognised by the authorities and was asked by SON to assist with the process of cost recovery from the relevant insurers. To that end Sea Alarm advised the wildlife responders on proper record keeping during the response and is now facilitating the procedure to submit a joint wildlife response claim in cooperation with the authorities. This incident demonstrates that a close pre-spill relationship between NGOs and the authorities is helpful in providing an effective, coordinated response.