Section 2

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Coastal Area Review of Potential Places of Refuge in the Atlantic Region

Background

IMO Resolutions A.949(23) “Guidelines on Places of Refuge for Ships in Need of Assistance” and Resolution A. 950(23) “Maritime Assistance Services”(MAS) offers advice to both coastal states and masters of ships as to the manner in which situations giving rise to a request for access to a place of refuge might be best handled.

The focus on the “Places of Refuge” issue was brought up by three significant shipping disasters (oil tankers “ERIKA”, “CASTOR” and “PRESTIGE”), which impacted mainly the coasts of Europe. These incidents resulted in very serious damage to coastline ecosystems, communities and businesses. The scale of the damage and the political response to it have given rise to intense international interest and concern. This has led to the development of the Guidelines, which provide a framework for decision making that will help to ensure a thorough and balanced risk assessment, allay concerns of the stakeholders and the best risk control strategy decided, adopted and implemented in a timely and safe manner.

Transport Canada has developed the National Places of Refuge Contingency Plan ( PORCP ) TP 14707 E as a framework for deciding a suitable “Places of Refuge” in Canada.

Evaluation of the Atlantic Coast Line

This process will facilitate the risk evaluation and compare one option to another in the event of an incident. The most suitable “Place of Refuge” can only be determined after the details of the specific incident are known and thoroughly considered on a case by case basis, as the limitations, operation considerations, hazards and associated risks can vary greatly with each incident.

Transport Canada Marine Safety and Security – Atlantic Region has taken this into consideration when performing the evaluation of the Atlantic Coast of Canada in order to assemble data that will be used to expedite the case specific analysis and decision making process. This evaluation of the Atlantic Canada coastline is not a process for “pre-designation” or “ pre-identification”, but is meant to establish factors of suitability of such places, facilities, and resources to assist a ship in these places and will help to identify the nature and degree of risk from the environmental social and economic point of view.

Current Status

Transport Canada Marine Safety and Security Branch supports the IMO Resolutions A .949(23) and A .950(23) regarding the Places of Refuge for ships in need of assistance and Maritime Assistance Services.

National Contingency Plans for responding to a request for a place of refuge have been developed at Transport Canada Headquarters in Ottawa.

Departmental Position

Transport Canada recognizes that because of the international nature of shipping, action to mitigate risks and prevent incidents related to ships requesting places of refuge is most effectively carried out through the implementation of IMO Resolution A. 949(23) “Guidelines on Places of Refuge for Ships in Need of Assistance” and Resolution A. 950(23) “Maritime Assistance Services”( MAS ).

Transport Canada is committed to consulting with other Federal and Provincial Departments to form an assessment team as well as with all other interested stakeholders to select suitable “place of refuge” on a case-by-case basis when a request is received on the East Coast of Canada.

Transport Canada is committed to maintaining and updating the national and regional Contingency Plans. Transport Canada will carry out a risk assessment on a case to case basis together with a decision making mechanism regarding Places of Refuge for ships in need of assistance in order to ensure a safe, efficient and environmentally friendly transportation system.

Atlantic Region List of Evaluated Places of Refuge

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