Equipment Assistance Service

The Equipment Assistance Service (EAS) consists of stand-alone oil pollution response equipment stockpiles in selected areas around Europe. This service complements the response capacity available through EMSA’s network of oil spill response vessels. The EAS equipment is on stand-by, ready to be mobilised around-the-clock anywhere in European waters and shared sea basins.

Following a request for assistance, the maximum mobilisation time required (i.e. equipment loaded on trailers and ready to be shipped) is 12 hours, excluding the transit time. In addition to the equipment, the requesting party can also hire technical support personnel to assist with the equipment familiarisation.

The conditions and tariffs of the EAS service are set out in the Incident Response Contract for Equipment (IRC-E), which is signed by the requesting party.

EMSA currently maintains four EAS stockpiles:

• Frederikshavn, Denmark (EAS Baltic Sea).
• Rotterdam, The Netherlands (EAS North Sea)
• Tolkkinen, Finland (EAS Northern Baltic Sea).
• Ravenna, Italy (EAS Adriatic Sea).
• Varna, Bulgaria (EAS Black Sea)

Each of these stockpiles has the following characteristics:

• Suitable indoor and outdoor storage capacity
• Capability for quick mobilisation, with a maximum mobilisation time of 12 hours
• Capability for transportation of the equipment
• Technical support personnel qualified and trained in the maintenance and deployment of the oil pollution response equipment.

The requesting party may choose one or multiple equipment sets from the available toolbox.

An overview of the equipment currently available in these EAS stockpiles is provided below:

EAS Facility Location
Northern Baltic Sea Tolkkinen (Finland)
Baltic Sea Frederikshavn (Denmark)
North Sea Werkemdam (The Netherlands)
Southern Europe Ravenna (Italy)
Black Sea Varna (Bulgaria)