What actions do you take as Chief Engineer in an oil spill?

flowchart LR
  A["Alarm; SOPEP activated"] --> B["Stop the source: pumps stopped, valves closed, isolated"]
  B --> C["Contain on deck: scupper plugs, SOPEP locker, slop tank"]
  C --> D["Assess; remove ignition risk"]
  D --> E["Report through the master: coastal State, flag, company, P&I"]
  E --> F["Recover and clean up; no dispersants without authority"]
  F --> G["Oil Record Book, evidence preserved, investigation"]

• Alarm and SOPEP: alarm, bridge and master informed, response team mustered in PPE, the Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan activated (Annex I regulation 37).
• Stop the source first: stop all bunker, cargo and oil transfers and pumps; close valves, isolate and identify the source; reduce pressure or level.
• Contain on board: scupper plugs in, drains closed, a boundary built; SOPEP locker absorbents, booms and non-sparking tools; pooled oil to a slop tank, never over the side.
• Assess and control: extent, oil type, whether any reached the water; remove ignition risk (no hot work, stop machinery nearby, ventilate, gas monitoring).
• Report through the master: the coastal State authority without delay, flag, company and DPA, P&I, terminal (India: the Coast Guard); ship, position, time, oil, quantity, source, action, assistance.
• Recover, record, prevent: absorbents to the slop tank, no dispersants without the coastal State; Oil Record Book (regulation 17), samples and photographs kept; investigate under ISM, report under s.231; never pump oily water overboard to hide it.