Funding for Research Projects on Oil and Cargo Spills in the Marine Environment

Funding is available for research projects on accidental oil and cargo spills in the marine environment through the ITOPF R&D Award.

Each year the ITOPF R&D Award provides financial support for a short-term or PhD research that has the potential to improve spill-related problems such as preparedness, monitoring, response, environmental effects, and impact reduction. It also provides financial support for projects which have the potential to lead to improvements in spill-related matters. Up to £60,000 is available for short-term projects (1-2 years) and up to £40,000 for PhD projects, plus a student stipend and university fees.

ITOPF is maintained by the world’s shipowners and their insurers on a not-for-profit basis to promote effective responses to spills of oil, chemicals and other substances in the marine environment.

Each year, over 7800 million tons of oil, chemicals, raw materials and finished goods are safely delivered by sea. Nevertheless, from time to time, accidents do occur that result in pollution of the marine environment by oil or chemicals. The severity of the pollution depends upon many factors. Continuous improvement in the understanding of the fate and effects of these substances will lead to improvements in accepted ‘best practice’ for spill response and environmental monitoring.

Over the past decades, ITOPF has encouraged and promoted many R&D projects, and funded some, such as DISCOBIOL. Therefore, the creation of this Award in 2011 was a natural step for ITOPF’s shipowner Members and Associate Members, and their Protection and Indemnity (P&I) insurers who recognise the importance of nurturing high quality R&D.

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