BŪTINGĖ. On Friday, September 26, 2008, a seminar was organized at AB Mažeikių Nafta Būtingė Oil Terminal to review the aspects and new developments in the area of prevention and combating the pollution incidents at sea.
The seminar was organized by Būtingė Oil Terminal, the Lithuanian Maritime Safety Administration, Klaipėda County Civil Safety and Mobilization Department, and Coastal Research and Planning Institute of Klaipėda University.
“The Company pays a lot of attention to environment protection by investing into the most advanced technologies. We also understand that safe operations of the Terminal depend not only on the modern equipment, but also on the cooperation of the Company and other institutions, as well as on coordinated actions, — Arūnas Pranckevičius, Director of Pipelines and Marine Terminals of AB Mažeikių Nafta, told. — We know the importance of AB Mažeikių Nafta to the Lithuanian economy and significance of Būtingė Terminal to the Company’s operations; therefore we pursue the Terminal’s operations to be safer and more reliable as a result of joint efforts.”
The participants of the seminar exchanged the latest information on the international, EU, and national requirements related to combating the oil pollution incidents at sea. The changes in the oil spill combating system which will be implemented on January 1, 2009, and will change the responsibilities for rescue of people and combating pollution incidents in the Lithuanian parts of the Curonian Lagoon and Baltic Sea was introduced during the event. The major change in the system is related to transfer of the pollution combating function from the Maritime Safety Administration to the Naval Force. This organization is preparing the changes to the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan for Combating Oil Pollution of the Sea.
Discussions on the prevention measures and improvement of the planning, preparedness, and cooperation was held in order to respond to the pollution incidents at sea faster and more efficiently. Possible pollution risks, sources, pollution elimination methods, means, and technologies were discussed.
The seminar participants were informed about the pollution prevention equipment installed at Būtingė Terminal. “The modernized Offshore Leak Detection System and a video surveillance camera on the SPM buoy are only a few measures implemented by the Company in order to increase safety of the crude oil transshipment operations,” — Arijus Skarbalius, Deputy Director of Pipelines and Marine Terminals for Operations of AB Mažeikių Nafta, told.
The seminar was attended by the specialists of AB Mažeikių Nafta, Lithuanian Maritime Safety Administration, Klaipėda County Civil Safety and Mobilization Department, Coastal Research and Planning Institute of Klaipėda University, Ministry of Environment, Klaipėda Regional Department of Environment Protection, Marine Research Center, Klaipėda State Seaport Authority, Naval Force, Palanga Town Municipality, and Coast Guard Service of the State Border Guard Service.
Jacek Jan Komar
AB Mazeikiu Nafta
Tel.: +370 443 9 35 34
Fax: +370 443 9 25 79
jacek.komar@nafta.lt