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A DAY IN THE LIFEHEBEI SPIRIT INCIDENTFIGHTINGSPIRITCONTRIBUTIONS BYPaul Bo Lange Skuld OsloSandro Vuylsteke Skuld CopenhagenNicola Mason Skuld Hong KongSebastian Walldén Skuld OsloBrad Larson Skuld OsloNearly 11,000 tonnes of oil spilled in what was South Korea’s worst pollution incident ever.What sort of challenges did Skuld, the Hebei Spirit’s P&I insurer, face in the first hours and daysafter the incident? And what can we learn from Skuld’s proactive approach to handling this case?“It was the smell that got to us,”observed Paul Bo Lange, Skuld’sHead of Loss Prevention & RiskManagement, based in the Skuldhead office in Oslo. “Suddenly,even though we still had sevenkilometres to go on our trip to thecoast on that first morning afterthe incident, there was alreadythe overwhelming smell of oil.”Despite many years of experiencewith maritime casualties,the four passengers in the carwere hardly prepared for the sightthat met them as their vehiclereached the Korean Taean Coastalshoreline.“At the coast you normally seea mass of blue-green broken up bywhite,” said Paul. “What struck uswas there was only black as far asthe eye could see.”ITOPF SUPPORTTwo of the passengers in the carwere representatives from theInternational Tanker OwnersPollution Federation (ITOPF).They had flown out from Londonthe day before after being notifiedof the accident by Paul at around0400 that morning. They teamedup with Paul in Frankfurt, wherethey were also joined by SandroVuylsteke, a maritime lawyerworking for Skuld in Copenhagen,who would be providing the initiallocal legal support on the incident.The four arrived within 24 hoursof being notified of the accidentby Nicola Mason in Skuld’s HongKong office.ITOPF’s priority service isresponding to accidental marinespills. The organisation’s team ofhighly experienced technical staffare at a constant readiness to travelanywhere in the world at a fewhour’s notice. Since 1978, ITOPFstaff have attended on-site atapproximately 600 incidentsaround the world, giving theorganisation unparalleled practicalexperience in the realities ofcombating major marine spills.“IN SUCHCIRCUM-STANCES,HOURS ANDMINUTESCOUNT”The Hebei Spirit is a Skuld Memberthrough the Hong Kong Syndicate.Nicola – who is Vice Presidentand Deputy Head of the Far EastSyndicate, as well as a maritimelawyer – was therefore appointedCasualty Coordinator for theincident.HOURS AND MINUTESIn such circumstances, hoursand minutes count. Following thecollision at 0700 in the morninglocal time, the owners of the HebeiSpirit contacted Skuld within twohours. Skuld Hong Kong initiatedthe casualty response by 0920(1020 in Hong Kong and 0220 inOslo) and Skuld’s local lawyers andour South Korean correspondentsent instructions to the owner andcrew on a preliminary approachto the incident.By 1300 local time (0400 in Oslo),the Skuld on-site team establishedcontact with ITOPF. Skuld alsocontacted the International OilPollution Compensation (IOPC)HOUR BYHOURTHE HEBEI SPIRIT INCIDENTFRIDAY 07:00DECEMBER 7, 2007A massive floating crane barge ramsthe fully laden VLCC oil tanker HebeiSpirit in heavy seas off the South Koreancoast. This is one of the largesttanker spills of recent times. At 09:00(local time), the owners of the HebeiSpirit contact Skuld.6 BEACON / DECEMBER 2008The spill occurred near Mallipo Beach,in Taean County, considered one of SouthKorea’s most beautiful and popularbeaches. PHOTO: KOREAN NEWSPAPER,DAEJONILBO.COMFRIDAY 09:20DECEMBER 7, 2007A casualty response is initiated (10:20in Hong Kong and 02:20 in Oslo) andlocal lawyers retained by Skuld andour correspondent from the closestport send instructions to the ownerand crew on a general approach tothe incident.FRIDAY 13:00DECEMBER 7, 2007(04:00 in Oslo) The Skuld on-site teamestablishes contact with ITOPF, whogive support on pollution response,and then with the IOPC representativeswho handle one of the Fundsfor making reimbursements to thoseaffected by the spill along with Skuld.