Decision ID: 004091

At their April 2016 sessions, the governing bodies noted that the Secretariat had started discussions with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) with regard to their fleet of response vessels available to European Union States and the possibility of an agreement by which the hire rates for those vessels could be approved as acceptable rates by the IOPC Funds, thus facilitating the assessment process for those claims. The Secretariat had also been engaging with EMSA, in close cooperation with the P&I Clubs and ITOPF, to discuss the possibility of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between EMSA, the IOPC Funds and the International Group agreeing on acceptable rates for the use of EMSA vessels and pollution response equipment. If an agreement is reached, the Director intends to make a proposal for consideration by the Assembly in October 2016.