National Environment Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act, 2008 (Act No. 24 of 2008)

Regulations

Environmental Management of Ship-to-Ship Transfer, 2025

Chapter 2 - Environmental Management

6. Minimum requirements to avoid or mitigate oil spills
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(1)A ship-to-ship transfer operator must—
(a)use drip trays to collect any fuel or other run-off from equipment that is not contained within a bunded area and direct the contents of those trays to a closed drainage system;
(b)implement leak detection and repair programmes;
(c)only use low-toxicity biodegradable detergents for the cleaning of the deck and any spillages;
(d)where it is safe to do so, deploy an inflatable curtain boom suitable for the location of the operation prior to each ship-to-ship transfer operation in such manner and position as to afford the best mitigation for any spill;
(e)regularly monitor the inflatable curtain boom deployed in accordance with paragraph (d) throughout the duration of ship-to-ship transfer to ensure that the structural integrity and positioning of the boom has not been compromised;
(f)ensure that secondary booms are kept on standby to reinforce existing booms in the event of boom failure occurring; and
(g)ensure that the ship-to-ship transfer tanker is equipped with leak detection equipment that is capable of sounding an alarm and has emergency shut-off capability.

 

(2)A ship-to-ship transfer operator may not undertake ship-to-ship transfer unless a vessel capable of responding to a spill is on standby and able to respond within 30 minutes of an incident occurring.

 

(3)Any ship-to-ship transfer operator undertaking STS more than 5 nautical miles offshore does not have to comply with subregulation (2), and must include suitable measures in the STS environmental management plan to respond to a spill.

 

(4)The automatic identification system of all vessels operated by a ship-to-ship transfer operator must be active and reporting while outside an operational harbour area.