The Marine Spill Response Organization (MSRC) has adapted to the increasingly competitive oil spill cleanup industry.
MSRC became the oil industry's response to the requirements of the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, but now the U.S. Coast Guard has allowed cleanup firms more flexibility to meet the legal requirements.
Change in emphasis
It has shifted from emphasizing standby, dedicated cleanup equipment to allowing firms to contract for emergency access to nondedicated equipment (OGJ, Jan. 1, p. 22). Steve Benz, a former BP official who became MSRC president earlier this year, said the spill response firm was established to operate like a firehouse with equipment always standing ready, but the final Coast Guard guidelines "didn't quite call for that." As a result, MSRC is remaking itself into a company that more closely resembles its competitors.
It still has more dedicated equipment than any other firm: 16 large spill response vessels, 17 storage barges, 68 shallow water barges, 96 skimmers, 300,000 ft of boom, and seven communications trailers.
Leaner, new scope
What has changed is that MSRC has slashed its expenses and broadened its scope "all with the idea we have this infrastructure and fixed costs, and we need to find a better way to use it," Benz said. "We have been listening to our customers, reviewing costs, examining our organization, and adjusting to the current realities of the oil and shipping industries."
The firm cut employees to 177 from 441 in mid-1995 and halved its annual budget to about $45 million/year. Operations were consolidated into three regions (East Coast, Gulf Coast, and West Coast), and each was given more autonomy. MSRC, like its competitors, now will rely more on contractors to help it respond to spills.
Benz said, "We've created a strong network of contractors, but we don't want to go totally the contractor route." The firm now is willing to respond to the full range of spills- not just the biggest ones-because most spills are 50 bbl or less. It hopes that will encourage more shipowners to join its parent company, the Marine Preservation Association, since MSRC now can offer tankers "one-stop" coverage for all their oil spill insurance needs.
The company now will accept shoreline cleanup work and salvage and lightering jobs. And it will consider responding to hazardous materials spills or even spills that occur outside the U.S.
Benz said, "Phase one was reshaping company; phase two is expanding it. We are guided by three goals: satisfying our customers, being commercially efficient, and maintaining our external reputation."
He said MSRC recently responded to a 170,000 gal oil spill in the harbor at Portland, Me., where it had equipment standing by, and Benz said, "People were quite satisfied with the results."
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