HK firm offers `one-stop solution` to China`s pollution laws

PENDING licence approval, a Hong Kong company plans to offer services so operators can meet stringent new mainland oil-spill regulations that mandate keeping emergency clean-up services on retainer.
In response to new regulations on ship pollution, Hong Kong-based OSRO China has set up a nation-wide consortium of oil-spill response contractors to meet Chinese requirements that shipping lines have local clean-up crews at the ready.
In the past, China`s Maritime Safety Authority (MSA) only called on oil sludge collectors to assist when needed. But henceforth, all ships hauling more than 10,000 tonnes of hazardous substances are required to comply with the new contracting requirement.
ORSO Hong Kong manager David Schaus said his company had found a way to capitalise on its past relationships and experience with oil sludge collection contractors, adding that on approval from the MSA, the clean-up consortium would form a "turn-key pollution control product that will allow shipowners to sign a single agency agreement while meeting all statutory requirements."
The ORSO licence application is still under review, said a company statement and interim agreements will need to be established with pre-registered contractors. Ship operators are only permitted to sign with licensed clean-up providers. Most licence applicants, including Baoyu Seaclean, assigned to handle the organisational aspects of the ORSO network, are among the list of pre-registered entities.