Spill Response on Yachts

What size boat?

Hi,

There should be no such thing as a contaminated bilge discharge these days from a large yacht.

There are a whole raft of brands of Oily Water Separators that the larger vessels are required by law to be fitted with and to operate recording the operation of such in the Oil Record Book. These units are surveyed for function every 12 months and the IOPP Certificate is re validated.

These units used to setup to have a maximum oily discharge of 100 ppm , new legislation a few years ago has now lowered this to 15ppm.

Bilge Waste that can't be pumped out with this should be pumped into a bilge holding tank for later discharge either by pumping off the free water with the OWS or discharge to a treatment facility ashore.

On larger vessels you will have a much different answer, but on the boats I run (usually up to about 80') and manage we generally keep at least (1) gross of oil pads on board. The immediate response though (if it's not in your engine box which should not spill to your bilge) is to immediately shut or disconnect any affected bilge pumps to contain it to the inside of your boat. Then have fun . The commercial boats I often run are spill response vessels and they keep containment boom as well. In case your thoughts were going this way...NO DISPERSING AGENTS!

<400 tons don't require an OWS so the question is loaded with landmines ... or seamines if you like ...

Basically what NYCAP123 said. Oil Sorbs and shutting down the pumps.

If you do spill it is best to call the USCG yourself. That way as long as you show you are doing and have done everything you can to stop it and contain it you are unlikely to get a fine.

Do they make small boats that size? )

"Do they make small boats that size?"

There seem to be a lot of 398 ton boats out there ... sized just right to avoid having the equipment to keep out of trouble.

Hi,

It must be a market response to the number of 499 ton ones that are also out there.

On the smaller yachts (under 80'), we usually use oil absorbant pads to soak up any oil in the bilge. Most yachts any of the oil dripped from the motor is contained in the engine bed (which shouldn't drain into the bilge). That is also usually kept clean and depending on the leakage it can be pumped into a container and the remainder diaphered up.

"... is there a product of choice to prevent contamination ..."

If you are talking about a small boat with no oily water tank or OWS and a small capacity bilge pump there is a filter made by Liberty Bay Solutions that works well. It is essentially a polishing filter to remove any trace of oil that makes it through the bilge pump.

If you have some sort of storage tank, decanting then passing the clean water through a polishing filter is nearly as good as a properly functioning OWS. The difference being you can't prove your bilge discharge meets the 15ppm limit unless you install an oil content monitor.

There are many possible answers to the question but again, it depends on the size of the boat, where it operates, and what is already installed or available.

Or, maybe the question really is about spill response. Are you asking about spill response kits? It's a little confusing because if you prevent contamination then there is nothing to respond to ...