January
Sea Alarm meets with Rijkswaterstaat to plan 2018 year activities to be completed as part of a 5-year (2017-2022) oiled wildlife response preparedness project in the Netherlands, a multi-stakeholder process involving authorities, wildlife response organizations, NGOs and other expert organizations.
February
Saskia Sessions-Puplett presents on oiled wildlife response preparedness at the Middle East Technical Forum in Kuwait, jointly sponsored by OSRL and the Kuwait Oil Company.
Hugo Nijkamp chairs a meeting of the HELCOM Expert Working Group-Oiled Wildlife Response (EWG-OWR).
March
Saskia Sessions-Puplett chairs a session on wildlife issues and Paul Kelway presents on the guidelines and recommendations developed by the Global Oiled Wildlife Response System at Interspill 2018.
REMPEC and Sea Alarm renew their MoU.
Sea Alarm hosts a workshop in Hamburg, Germany on wildlife emergency response to incidents involving birds. This is the second of three workshops funded by Saudi Aramco.
April
Hugo Nijkamp attends the HELCOM RESPONSE meeting in Lithuania. Sea Alarm has Observer status at HELCOM and Hugo reports to HELCOM RESPONSE in his capacity as Chair of the Expert Working Group on Oiled Wildlife Response.
Hugo Nijkamp leads a session in the Netherlands on methodology to predict the point of overload at a facility accepting oiled birds as part of the 2017-2022 oiled wildlife response project for Rijkswaterstaat.
May
All three Sea Alarm staff present at the 13th International Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference and associated workshops. Sea Alarm staff work on the Steering and Program Committees in the run-up to the conference.
In cooperation with the Swedish Coast Guard, Sea Alarm facilitates the use of the Self-Assessment Tool, a reporting instrument for assessing a country’s relative preparedness for integrated oiled wildlife response, by the Contracting Parties of the Bonn Convention. Hugo Nijkamp attends the OTSOPA meeting in Malmö, Sweden to present the results.
June
Sea Alarm assists with wildlife response efforts in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after the MS Bow Jubail collides with a jetty, oiling some 1000 swans. Sea Alarm is instrumental in mobilizing expertise from abroad and advising local authorities. 522 swans are brought to a temporary facility for professional rehabilitation.
July
Sea Alarm continues to assist with wildlife response efforts in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after the MS Bow Jubail collides with a jetty. Over 500 birds (97.5%) are released after being cleaned and rehabilitated.
August
Hugo Nijkamp attends the 2018 HELCOM Balex Delta exercise to participate in discussions of the observer programme. Sea Alarm joins the HELCOM RESPONSE Shore Group, as most wildlife response takes place on shore.
Sea Alarm assists all participating organizations in the MS Bow Jubail response with writing and submitting claims for compensation.
September
Paul Kelway participates in oiled wildlife response planning trip for the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) in Kazakhstan in collaboration with Focus Wildlife.
October
Sea Alarm (Paul Kelway and Hugo Nijkamp) participate in the Global Oiled Wildlife Response System (GOWRS) Project meeting in Cape Town, South Africa.
Sea Alarm organises the third Saudi Aramco-funded workshop on wildlife emergency response, this one focusing on marine mammal response. The meeting is hosted by CEDRE in Brest, France.
November
Sea Alarm organises a meeting in Ostend, Belgium, to evaluate EUROWA participation in the Bow Jubail wildlife response.
December
Paul Kelway participates in second site visit to Kazakhstan to conduct a basic oiled wildlife training course for NCOC in collaboration with Focus Wildlife and the Wildlife Rescue Centre, Ostend.
Claims from participating organizations in the MS Bow Jubail are accepted for compensation, and all payments are facilitated by Sea Alarm.