I would like to begin by wishing you and your families a Happy New Year and welcoming you to the Newsletter Issue 073, which provides an overview of MOIG’s activities over the past year as well as those planned for 2026.
I am proud to highlight MOIG’s remarkable achievements in 2025, a year marked by significant progress in strengthening oil spill preparedness and response across the Mediterranean. Among the key milestones were the IMO 2 - Oil Spill Exercise and the IMS 300 training course, organized in cooperation with Cedre–STIR and ATRAC, respectively.
These events brought together around 70 participants from MOIG members, Libyan oil and gas companies, ministries, agencies, and local authorities. Throughout the training courses, participants collaborated, exchanged knowledge, and strengthened professional networks, fostering both practical skills and regional cooperation. On behalf of the Management Committee, I warmly thank Cedre and ATRAC for their invaluable technical support, and STIR for their hospitality during the oil spill exercise.
The year 2025 was also marked by our active participation in INTERSPILL, Europe’s leading oil spill conference and exhibition. This event provided an excellent opportunity to meet and engage with members, technical partners, and key stakeholders in the oil spill community, while also contributing to the development of the MOIG Programme 2026.
On the other hand, I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to Norlense, Turkish Petroleum, and Tendy Energy for joining us in 2025. Their trust in MOIG reflects their strong commitment to our shared mission and objectives.
In addition, I am pleased to announce that the updated version of the oil spill response equipment database is now available on the MOIG website. Several improvements have been implemented to enhance user-friendliness, including easier access and simplified download of equipment data. We look forward to your valued collaboration in completing the database as soon as possible.
We remain firmly committed to this path, focusing our efforts on organizing training sessions, practical and tabletop exercises, and regional workshops to further strengthen members’ preparedness and response capabilities. In this context, I am pleased to highlight three key events scheduled for 2026:
- Event 1: The Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Techniques (SCAT) Training, to be held on 08–12 February 2026 in Kerkennah Island-Tunisia, in cooperation with TPS and OSRL;
- Event 2: The Regional Workshop on Claims and Compensation, which will take place on 19–21 May 2026 in South Hammamet-Tunisia, in cooperation with the IOPC Funds, ITOPF, and GI;
- Event 3: The Regional Workshop titled “Strengthening Partnerships for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response”, to be organized on 03–05 November 2026 in Athens- Greece, in cooperation with EPE and Polygreen.
Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all our members and technical partners for their continued support, trust, and confidence in MOIG. None of our achievements would have been possible without you.