National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA)

Investigations revealed that during the process of pumping oil onto a loading vessel for export caused the oil spill into the sea near the Kimbe main wharf, West New Britain Province earlier this month.

NMSA General Manager Paul Unas said there were no reported marine impact caused by the spillage.

“It was fortunate that the NMSA team responded instantly when it was first reported where now most of the spillage at sea boomed and contained and recovered.

The officers are from the Authority’s Marine Environment Protection department and according to NMSA, a report of the findings will be furnished before the end of this week.

The oil spill incident occurred near the Kimbe main wharf at 3am on Monday, whereby a huge volume of palm oil had reportedly leaked from one of the storage tank and into the sea.

To refloat the ship, the owner, Feng Sea Shipping, engaged the tug with barge from the log pond to offload the logs cargo from the deck using the ship's cranes. On May 4, NMSA had carried out an inspection in accordance with Port State Control procedure.

However, no detainable deficiencies were identified. The ship however, was detained for grounding, leading to damage to coral reef and not reporting the incident to the NMSA.

The inspection was conducted last week as part of NMSA’s efforts to clamp down on any ship owners and operators who knowingly operate unseaworthy vessels within the Maritime Provinces, and to identify the exact number of vessels operating within the country and for compliance purposes.

The initial inspection by NMSA started in West New Britain where eight out of eleven vessels were detained in September of this year. The inspection was conducted by Vanimo based Officer-In-Charge, Aaron Tupa and Manager –Investigation & Enforcement, Joseph Pyawan.

He made this call when presenting the NMSA Report in Parliament yesterday. Mr Samb said the Government grant to NMSA was to the tune of only K2 million on average annually.

“I would like to seek support from the Finance Minister to ensure that sufficient funding is always made available to NMSA so the Authority is able to fully execute its functions of maritime safety and protection of marine environment,” he said.

Data and information are pivotal for planning and making strategic decisions and utilized for risk management. Trends and information derived from this can be used to effectively improve service delivery and mitigate and improve maritime related incidents, accidents and disasters.

Jomard Passage is located in the waters of Milne Bay Province, along the Louisiade Archipelago and the passage that connects the Solomon’s Sea with the Coral Sea. It is a mandatory pilotage and maritime conservation area, a decision approved by the National Executive Council.

Minister Samb said the issue regarding Jomard Passage is one he seeks to rectify in his term as Minister.

He has urged the stakeholders and leaders of the province to come together and mobilize the people within the area to come to an agreement in the coming stakeholders meeting in the province.

Alphonse will be working with reappointed NMSA chairman, Peter Humphreys, who represents the PNG Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and other Board members to provide guidance and leadership to NMSA at a time when the shipping industry in general is growing.

In welcoming the appointment, which was gazetted on July 20, board chairman of PNG Ports, Nathaniel Poya, thanked the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the National Executive Council (NEC) for reappointing Alphonse to the NMSA board.