MENA Region Comes Together To Tackle Marine Oil Spills

Region’s first Oil Spill Preparedness, Response and Recovery Forum

Oil spills have now become one of the most important concerns for the MENA region’s governments. With the sharp increase in oil production and number of ships passing through the region, the chances for oil spills are greater than ever. The Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Centre (MEMAC), formed under the Regional Organisation for Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME), is the GCC’s cooperation body tasked with strengthening the capacities of member states to tackle and prevent oil pollution in the ROPME Sea Area. MEMAC has devised a Master Plan that they are going to unveil at the Oil Spill Preparedness, Response and Recovery MENA 2013, taking place from 16-19 June 2013 at the Beach Rotana Hotel, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

MEMAC has been collaborating with members of the GCC to bring in new regulations that not only enhance the preparedness levels to tackle oil spills but also improve the collaboration between these nations.

"With over 50,000 ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz daily, a number which is expected to rise to 60,000 by 2015, the need to be better prepared to prevent and respond to oil spills is greater than ever,"said MEMAC Director, Capt. M. Al- Janahi.

Joining MEMAC at this pivotal oil spill event are speakers and attendees from the region’s leading NOCs, IOCS, government authorities, port companies, shipping companies, police authorities, naval forces, coast guards, environment agencies, health authorities and key solution providers all concerned with protecting the marine environment in the MENA region.

Some of the key speakers at the forum include Saudi Aramco Senior Oil Spill Specialist, Capt. Majid Khaldi; Abu Dhabi Ports Company Harbour Master, Capt. Ashraf Mabrouk; PDO Corporate Functional Discipline Head of Emergency and Business Continuity Management, Johnson B. Awe; Sudapak Petroleum Operating Company Ltd. HSE Manager for Africa, Ahmed Elidrisy and U.S. Navy MARLO Bahrain Officer-In-Charge, Cdr. Jose Herrador, among many others.

The two-day conference aims to highlight key challenges in recovering from, preventing, and responding to oil spills, to present ground-breaking case studies, to improve regional collaboration for enhanced preparedness levels. Accompanied by the two interactive workshops, the forum promises an assembly of all major stakeholders and decision-makers from the industry.

This event is organised by IQPC Dubai who are overwhelmed with the amount of interest being generated from the industry.

"We’re excited and grateful for the response we have received from the industry and this has made us even more determined to bring together and engage all these stakeholders in ensuring this region finally breaks the shackles and improves cooperation for the benefit of the region’s marine environment," said the event’s Project Director, Udit Arora.

ABOUT IQPC:

IQPC is a global company specialised in creating, managing and operating high quality exhibitions, conferences and seminars, since 1973, with approximately 1,700 worldwide events each year.

IQPC now has offices in major cities across six continents including: Bengaluru, Berlin, Doha, Riyadh, Johannesburg, Dubai, London, Muscat, New York, Riyadh, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Tampa and Toronto.

For more information, visit www.oilspillmena.com

CONTACT

Negin Bagherian, Marketing Manager
Oil Spill Preparedness, Response and Recovery

Tel: +971 4 374 8284
Negin.Bagherian@iqpc.com