SOPEP — Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan
Oil-spill response preparation: approved plan, updated official contacts and ship–shore coordination.
Operational Explanation
The SOPEP is the approved plan describing the immediate actions to be taken in the event of an oil spill: notification to the authorities, containment, use of onboard anti-pollution materials, and up-to-date emergency contacts.
Regulatory Reference
MARPOL Annex I, Regulation 37. Ships of 150 gross tonnage and above carrying noxious liquid substances in bulk keep the SMPEP required by Annex II Regulation 17. The two plans may be combined into a single document, as IMO itself suggests: most of their contents coincide, and in an emergency one plan is more practical than two.
The plan is one thing; the duty to report is another, and it is not in the Annex. It is in Article 8 of the Convention — “A report of an incident shall be made without delay to the fullest extent possible in accordance with the provisions of Protocol I to the present Convention” — and in Protocol I, which sets out the regime in five articles: Duty to report (I), When to make reports (II), Contents of report (III), Supplementary report (IV), Reporting procedures (V). The SOPEP tells the ship how to respond; Protocol I establishes when and to whom she must speak, and must be applied alongside the approved plan’s procedures.
Who reports. Article I places the duty on the “master or other person having charge of any ship”. And it provides for the worst case: if the ship is abandoned, or if a report from her is incomplete or unobtainable, the duty passes “to the owner, charterer, manager or operator of the ship, or their agent”. There is no scenario in which nobody has to report.
When. Article II, as amended by MEPC.68(38), lists four triggers, and the third is the one underestimated on board because it has nothing to do with pollution. A report is due on: a discharge above the permitted level or probable discharge of oil or noxious liquid substances, “for whatever reason including those for the purpose of securing the safety of the ship or for saving life at sea” (a); a discharge or probable discharge of harmful substances in packaged form, freight containers, portable tanks, road and rail vehicles and shipborne barges (b); damage, failure or breakdown of a ship of 15 metres in length or above which “affects the safety of the ship; including but not limited to collision, grounding, fire, explosion, structural failure, flooding, and cargo shifting”, or which “results to impairment of the safety of navigation; including but not limited to, failure or breakdown of steering gear, propulsion plant, electrical generating system, and essential shipborne navigational aids” (c); and an operational discharge in excess of the quantity or instantaneous rate permitted (d). Sub-paragraph (c) therefore requires a report of a steering gear failure or a blackout with not one drop in the water: the trigger is the risk, not the event.
What, how, and then again. The minimum content (Article III) is the identity of the ships involved, the time, type and location of the incident, the quantity and type of harmful substance, and assistance and salvage measures. The procedure (Article V): “by the fastest telecommunications channels available with the highest possible priority to the nearest coastal State” — to the nearest coastal State, without delaying the report while awaiting company approval. Any additional applicable notifications to the flag State, port and company must also be made. And Article IV requires the initial report to be supplemented with further developments and requests from affected States to be answered as fully as possible: reporting is a flow, not a duty discharged by pressing send. Formats and operational procedures are in resolution A.851(20), whose §3.2 expressly invokes Article V(1) of Protocol I.
Lost containers: update from 1 January 2026. MEPC.384(81) adds paragraph 3 to article V of Protocol I: for lost containers, the report under article II(1)(b) follows SOLAS V/31–32. The master reports the incident to ships in the vicinity, the nearest coastal State and the flag State under the applicable provisions. This reporting duty does not itself extend SOPEP applicability.
Scope of Application
Every oil tanker of 150 GT and above and every other ship of 400 GT and above must carry a SOPEP approved by the Administration (Regulation 37.1). The 150 GT figure is not an additional requirement for tankers: it is their applicability threshold, lower than that for other ships.
Minimum content under Regulation 37.2. The plan must be in the master and officers’ working language and include: the reporting procedure; the list of authorities or persons to contact; a detailed description of immediate shipboard action to reduce or control the discharge; and the procedures and shipboard point of contact for coordinating shipboard action with national and local authorities.
Oil tankers of 5,000 tonnes deadweight and above. Regulation 37.4 also requires prompt access to computerized, shore-based damage-stability and residual-structural-strength calculation programs. The approved plan/SMS should make the service and activation contacts readily usable and exercise the activation route at the interval it establishes.
Procedure / How to Complete It
- Verify the approved plan, ship details and working language; confirm all four Regulation 37.2 content branches, including the shipboard coordination point.
- For oil tankers of 5,000 tonnes deadweight and above, verify prompt access to shore-based damage-stability and residual-strength programs, usable activation contacts and the exercise evidence required by the approved plan/SMS.
- Keep the latest IMO National Operational Contact Points list with the plan, including annual issue and quarterly updates; check it even without company changes. Separately update flag, P&I, agents and company contacts when changed. IMO list and updates.
- Check equipment required by the plan, SMS and applicable requirements; dispersants only when permitted by the competent authority and approved arrangements.
- Drills at SMS frequency: record scenario, participants, times, issues and actions.
Practical Example
Example drill scenario: simulated spill during bunkering, with activation of the emergency team, deployment of absorbent booms, simulated notification to the port authority, debrief and recording of issues found (e.g. equipment retrieval time longer than expected).
What Typically Goes Wrong
Common Mistakes Mistake Library
| Mistake | Consequence | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency contacts not updated | Delayed notification in a real spill | Review contacts at every change of management or agency |
| Drill not documented or too generic | Possible finding against the SMS and applicable inspection requirements | Record scenario, timings and lessons learned for every drill |
| Containment materials expired or insufficient | Inability to respond effectively in reality | Periodic check of stock and expiry dates |
What the PSCO Checks
Operational Tips
- Keep the latest IMO National Operational Contact Points list with the plan, including annual issue and quarterly updates; check it even without company changes. Separately update flag, P&I, agents and company contacts when changed. IMO list and updates.
- List updates do not introduce a quarterly drill requirement.
- Keep updated copies of the plan accessible.
Preparation checklist
Educational checklist. This summary supports learning and preparation only. It does not replace the vessel’s approved procedures, manuals, statutory documents, company SMS, or applicable official requirements. Completing it demonstrates neither compliance nor readiness for an inspection: it shows that a list has been read, not that the ship is in order. Always verify the current documents carried on board.
- Approved plan and working language verified
- Regulation 37.2 reporting, contacts, immediate actions and ship–authority coordination explicitly covered
- For oil tankers ≥5,000 DWT, prompt shore-program access and activation route verified
- Keep the latest IMO National Operational Contact Points list with the plan, including annual issue and quarterly updates; check it even without company changes. Separately update flag, P&I, agents and company contacts when changed. IMO list and updates.
- Required equipment checked; SMS drill documented.
FAQ
Related Topics
Last substantive revision of this page: 15 September 2026 · page fingerprint 607b88bf5e4b