Alaska

Alaskan Financial responsibility for non tank vessels

We summarise the Alaskan regulations which came into force on 27 May 2003 as clients frequently request this information despite it being contained in the P&I Club circulars.

P&I cover :
The regulations do not alter the amount of financial responsibility. An application for approval of financial responsibility must be submitted to the Alaskan Dept of Environment Conservation (ADEC) at least 15 days before the vessel enters Alaskan waters.

Evidence of financial responsibility can be proof of entry in a P&I Club. new applications and applications for renewal must not be submitted less than 30 days prior to its expiry.

Separate proof of financial responsibility in respect of deductibles is only required in respect of deductibles exceeding US$50,000.

Contingency plan requirements
As of 27 November 2002, non tank vessels require approved oil discharge prevention and contingency plans. These plans have to be submitted to ADEC for approval and from 27 May 2003, all vessels exceeding 400 GT may not operate in Alaskan waters unless application for approval has been submitted.

The regulations allow for 2 types of plan, The Equivalent Plan and the Streamlined plan.

Equivalent plan :
This is for companies who intend to use their own clean up resources and capabilities and provide thei own management team to respond to an oil spill.
We will not discuss this further as none of our clients will wish to explore this capability.

Streamlined plan :
This is for applicants who wish to employ a State approved clean up contractor and incident management team. ADEC has 5 days to approve an application for a streamlined plan.

The State approved vessel response plan is renewable every 3 years and has to cover each region of the vessel's operation. There are 10 regions and the plan has to comply with the regulations in each of the regions in which the vessel intends to operate.

A number of organizations have been approved by ADEC. There are detailed regulations on what is required for approval which we will not discuss, and we suggest the P&I Club is contacted to suggest an approved organisiation to assist the vessel to comply with these requirements.