IMO has outlined key insights for tackling marine pollution incidents at INTERSPILL 2025 in London, United Kingdom (8-10 April).
Focusing on the potential issues raised by future spills, hundreds of professionals from the international spill response community, private sector, government, and non-governmental organizations came together the conference to discuss challenges, innovation and share spill preparedness and response expertise from around the world. Topics covered included: alternative fuels as a pathway to decarbonization of the maritime transport sector; discussions on maintaining preparedness in a continuously evolving pollution risk landscape; innovation in surveillance, monitoring and visualization; and oiled wildlife.
During the event, the IMO team delivered the following:
Red Sea incidents
Patricia Charlebois, Deputy Director, Subdivision for Ocean Policy, Marine Environment Division, chaired a Panel session on recent incidents in the Red Sea, highlighting the importance of regional and international cooperation in emergency response and preparedness. IMO has played a key supporting role in the United Nations-coordinated efforts aimed at preventing an oil spill from the FSO Safer and MV Rubymar, as well as the more recent cases MV Sounion and ASL Bauhinia.
Regional frameworks for preparedness and response
Chiara Della Mea, Head of Pollution Preparedness and Response Section, chaired a session on regional frameworks for preparedness and response, focusing on multilateral and regional cooperation and capacity-building for effectively dealing with marine pollution incidents, which is an area strongly supported by the IMO. During another session Ms. Della Mea highlighted the challenges of dealing with a spill of alternative fuels, and explained how IMO's regulatory framework is evolving to take into consideration the development of low sulphur and alternative fuels in marine transportation.
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion
A poster on IMO's activities to promote and implement Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) was on display in the poster section dedicated to how spill response organizations have integrated DEI principles into their work practices. IMO, together with representatives from IOPC Funds, Ipieca, ITOPF and OSRL, co-organized and participated in a DEI working lunch session (9 April), attended by over 80 INTERSPILL registered delegates. Following a panel discussion where IMO, ITOPF and CEFAS presented their posters, the session attendees participated in table-top discussions, sharing their experiences and lessons learned on how the oil spill response community at large and the individual organizations/companies implement measure to foster diverse workforce, inclusive culture, equality and equitability for all.
The importance of mentorship programmes and networks were highlighted to encourage more widespread access to training opportunities for women and minorities in the oil spill response field. An outcome of the discussions, building on a side event held during INTERSPILL 2022, highlighted the need for concrete actions, both small, everyday actions and systemic changes, including the development of an industry-wide DEI framework, and leadership-led efforts to create equitable and inclusive environments.
Support for participation
IMO's Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) funded the participation of five delegates from Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and Ukraine to attend the conference. Delegates were able to undertake a number of short courses on how to optimize spill response transitioning from emergencies to projects, HNS spill response, and response strategy development using net environmental benefit analysis (NEBA).
E-learning
The IMO's e-Learning course ʺAn Introduction to Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperationʺ was promoted at the conference. This self-enrolled course, which is available in English, French and Spanish, provides individuals new to the oil spill response community with a comprehensive overview of the essential elements of oil spill preparedness and response. This course, as well as future remote courses are part of the IMO e-Learning portal, aim to increase the capacity of Member States to effectively implement IMO instruments.
IMO was present throughout the conference with a stand on the exhibition floor, which provided information on IMO conventions, manuals and other publications, and which served as the nexus for connecting delegates and organizations with the IMO with a view to raising visibility of the Organization's work, and its relationship with the oil response sector. Since 2000, IMO has been a regular contributor and sponsor of the triennial oil pollution prevention, preparedness and response Conference Series, composed of the three international conferences for the Americas (IOSC), Europe (INTERSPILL) and Asia (SPILLCON), respectively. At the end of the conference, the baton was passed to SPILLCON, with the next in the triennial conference series, to be held in Australia in 2026 ( IMO co-sponsors the event through the IMO Integrated Technical Cooperation programme).
