Samet SERTEL

Mare Sea Cleaning Services INC. Operations Manager

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Disc skimmers remain one of the most reliable mechanical recovery assets in our OSR toolkit, especially when dealing with viscous or weathered oil in the field.

From an operations standpoint, a few things make this technology valuable in real-world response scenarios:

- High oleophilic recovery efficiency minimizes water uptake, reducing waste oil storage and disposal costs — a key factor under MARPOL Annex I discharge and waste management requirements
- Mechanical recovery is the preferred Tier 1 response method under OPRC 1990 principles, prioritized ahead of dispersant use whenever environmental and operational conditions allow
- Durable disc construction ensures consistent performance across variable sea states and temperatures, critical for compliance with national contingency plans and IMO-aligned response standards
- Faster on-site deployment directly supports response time benchmarks required in Tier 2/3 OSR readiness assessments

Investing in robust, field-proven equipment like this is what allows us to meet contractual and regulatory obligations while minimizing environmental impact during actual incidents — not just on paper.

Proud to see our fleet capabilities continue to grow in this direction.

#OilSpillResponse #MARPOL #OPRC #OSR #MaritimeSafety

🔗 https://t.co/1yPXpXASqr

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Everyone quotes their mobilization time in the plan. Almost no one has actually timed it.

We ran a stopwatch on our own callout drill last month, from the moment the duty officer's phone rang to the moment the first boom left the depot. The plan said 45 minutes. Reality said 68 — and every lost minute had a name attached to it.

Where teams actually lose time:

- Notification lag: the duty roster looks solid on paper, but if the second and third contacts aren't tested regularly, you're relying on one person answering their phone at 3 a.m.

- Vehicle and trailer readiness: a response vessel or truck that isn't fueled, hitched, and pre-loaded costs 10-15 minutes before it even leaves the yard.

- Equipment staging order: if boom, connectors, and anchors aren't stored in deployment sequence, your team spends the first minutes on-site sorting gear instead of deploying it.

- Personnel confirmation: "who's actually available tonight" is different from "who's on the roster" — and that gap only shows up when you test it for real.

- Route and access planning: shoreline access points that looked fine on a map can be gated, tidal, or blocked by parked vehicles.

A contingency plan's mobilization figure is a hypothesis. It's only real once you've clocked it, broken it down minute by minute, and rebuilt the weak links. We'd rather find our 68 minutes on a Tuesday drill than during an actual incident.

#OilSpillResponse #IncidentReadiness #MarinePollutionResponse

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Most tabletop exercises test whether people can talk about a spill. They don't test whether people can respond to one.

I've watched teams walk through a scenario flawlessly on paper, then freeze during a real full-scale deployment because the paper exercise never simulated the actual friction points: a skimmer that won't start on the first pull, a boom anchor point that isn't where the plan assumed, radio traffic overlapping because three people are calling the same command post at once. Tabletop drills build familiarity with the plan. They don't build the muscle memory to execute it under pressure.

What actually closes that gap:

- Run at least one drill per cycle with zero advance notice to the response crew — readiness that only shows up when scheduled isn't readiness
- Force equipment failures into the scenario deliberately (dead pump, torn boom section, blocked access road) so the team practices adapting, not just following steps
- Time every phase separately — notification, mobilization, first boom in the water — not just total response time, so you know exactly where minutes are lost
- Rotate roles during drills so a second person can step into Incident Commander or On-Scene Coordinator if the primary is unavailable
- Debrief on decisions made under incomplete information, not just on whether the checklist was completed

A plan tells people what to do. A drill is the only thing that tells you whether they actually can, when it matters.

#OilSpillResponse #EmergencyPreparedness #IncidentCommand

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

From an operations standpoint, sorbent selection is often underestimated until you're on-site during an actual response. A few things I always emphasize to our teams:

- Hydrophobic, oleophilic sorbents like this one are critical for staying compliant with MARPOL Annex I discharge requirements — you're removing the pollutant without adding contaminated water volume to your waste stream

- Under OPRC 1990 Tier 1/2 response planning, having pre-positioned, high-capacity absorbents on hand directly impacts response time and containment success in the first critical hours

- Selective absorption (oil/fuel/chemical only, water-repellent) reduces disposal costs significantly — less saturated waste means lower downstream treatment and transport expenses

- Product performance should always be benchmarked against ASTM F726 or equivalent sorbent testing standards before deployment planning

- Equipment like this complements mechanical recovery and dispersant use as part of a layered OSR strategy, not a replacement for it

In coastal and terminal operations, the difference between a contained incident and an escalated one often comes down to readiness — having the right materials, trained crews, and response plans in place before they're needed, not after.

Proud of the work our team continues to do in this space.

#OilSpillResponse #MARPOL #OPRC #MaritimeSafety #EnvironmentalProtection

🔗 https://t.co/yFvH7Tq16z

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Honoring the memory of our martyrs and veterans on this Democracy and National Unity Day. Their sacrifice reminds us that unity, discipline, and readiness are not abstract values — they are what protect a nation when it matters most.

In our line of work at Mare Sea Cleaning Services, we see a similar principle every day:

- Effective emergency response — whether national defense or oil spill mitigation — depends on preparedness, coordination, and people willing to act decisively under pressure
- Strong national infrastructure and stability directly support the resilience of critical maritime and environmental protection systems, including OSR capability along Turkish coastlines
- A united, well-trained team is our first line of defense against environmental crises, just as unity safeguards a nation

We remain committed to protecting our seas with the same dedication shown by those we remember today.

#15Temmuz #DemokrasiVeMilliBirlikGünü #ŞehitlerimiziAnıyoruz #BirlikBeraberlik #MareSeaCleaningServices

🔗 https://t.co/XsJd5L3L4a

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Most first-hour spill responses don't fail because of missing equipment. They fail because nobody knew who was supposed to make the next decision.

That's what a real Incident Command structure fixes — and it's not just paperwork for a five-person response team either.

Here's what a functioning ICS layout actually gives you during an incident:

- A single Incident Commander who owns the decision authority, so two people aren't giving contradictory orders to the same boom crew
- A clear split between Operations (deployment, containment, recovery) and Logistics (fuel, extra sorbents, vessel support) so one bottleneck doesn't stall the other
- A Planning function tracking the spill's trajectory and resource status in real time, instead of everyone working off yesterday's tide report
- Defined reporting lines so the port authority and the client get one consistent situation update, not three different versions from three different people on site
- A named Safety Officer with the authority to halt an unsafe deployment, independent of operational pressure to "just get the boom out"

I've seen four-person teams run this structure and stay coordinated under real current and weather stress. I've also seen well-equipped teams lose the first critical hour circling back to "wait, who called that?"

The size of your team doesn't determine whether you need command structure. The complexity of the incident does — and that's usually already decided before you arrive on scene.

#IncidentCommandSystem #OilSpillResponse #OPRC

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Most tabletop exercises test whether people can talk about a spill. Very few test whether they can respond to one.

I've sat through drills where the "incident" was announced calmly, the right people were already in the room, and every decision had time to be discussed. That's not an emergency — that's a workshop.

What a tabletop actually misses:

- Communication breakdown under load — radios overlapping, one phone line jammed, no one pre-assigned to filter information to the Incident Commander
- Equipment that's on paper but not on the truck — a boom trailer listed in inventory that's actually mid-maintenance
- Decision fatigue — after 90 minutes of real deployment, judgment calls get worse, not better
- The handoff gap — shift change during an active response is where coordination most often collapses
- Weather and darkness — a scenario that assumes daylight and calm seas skips the conditions where most real mobilizations happen

The fix isn't abandoning tabletops — it's pairing them with full-scale deployment drills where equipment actually hits the water, timers run, and people make decisions while tired and under pressure.

Readiness is measured in the field, not around a table.

#OilSpillResponse #IncidentCommand #ResponseReadiness

🔗 https://t.co/uvE8Da2vma

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Most tabletop exercises test whether people can talk about a spill. Very few test whether they can respond to one.

I've sat through drills where the "incident" was announced calmly, the right people were already in the room, and every decision had time to be discussed. That's not an emergency — that's a workshop. Real incidents don't wait for your org chart to assemble.

What a tabletop actually misses:

- Communication breakdown under load — radios overlapping, one phone line jammed, and no one pre-assigned to filter information to the Incident Commander
- Equipment that's on paper but not on the truck — a boom trailer listed in inventory that's actually mid-maintenance
- Decision fatigue — after 90 minutes of real deployment, judgment calls get worse, not better, and tabletop scenarios almost never run that long
- The handoff gap — shift change during an active response is where coordination most often collapses, and it's rarely rehearsed
- Weather and darkness — a scenario that assumes daylight and calm seas skips the conditions where most real mobilizations actually happen

The fix isn't abandoning tabletops — it's pairing them with full-scale deployment drills where equipment actually hits the water, timers run, and people make decisions while tired and under pressure. A plan that only survives a quiet room isn't a plan. It's a draft.

Readiness is measured in the field, not around a table.

#OilSpillResponse #IncidentCommand #ResponseReadiness

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Response readiness in spill incidents isn't just about equipment on standby — it's about the operational discipline behind every deployment. A few principles we hold ourselves to daily:

- Tiered response capability aligned with OPRC 1990 obligations — Tier 1/2/3 readiness isn't theoretical, it's drilled
- MARPOL Annex I compliance embedded in every recovery and disposal procedure, not treated as an afterthought
- Dispersant use governed by strict NEBA (Net Environmental Benefit Analysis) — never a default option
- Crew certifications kept current against IMO OPRC-HNS Model Course standards
- Equipment maintenance cycles that assume worst-case activation, not best-case storage

The gap between "having a response plan" and "having a response capability" is measured in minutes during an actual incident. That gap is where preparation, training, and equipment integrity either hold — or fail.

Proud to be part of a team that treats environmental protection as an operational standard, not a compliance checkbox.

#OilSpillResponse #MarineSafety #MARPOL #OPRC #EnvironmentalProtection

🔗 https://t.co/uvE8Da2vma

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Skimmer selection isn't a checkbox exercise — pick the wrong type and you'll be "responding" to a spill while barely recovering any oil.

After years running OSR operations out of İzmit, the question I get most from junior responders is "which skimmer do we deploy?" The honest answer: it depends entirely on the oil's viscosity, the sea state, and what's actually floating on the water — not on what's sitting closest to the depot.

A few distinctions that matter in the field:

- Oleophilic drum skimmers excel on light-to-medium crude and diesel-range products in calm to moderate seas — they reject water well, but their recovery rate drops sharply once viscosity climbs above ~10,000 cSt.

- Weir skimmers are efficient on thin sheens in sheltered water, but they're nearly useless once wave height exceeds 0.5m — they'll ingest as much water as oil.

- Brush skimmers handle heavy, weathered, or emulsified oil far better than either — the bristle spacing lets them pick up viscous product that would simply slide off a drum.

- Sea state and debris load often matter more than the oil type itself — a brush skimmer in debris-heavy coastal water will clog faster than a drum unit.

The mistake I still see: contractors selecting equipment based on inventory availability, not oil characteristics. A dispersant plan and a boom strategy mean little if the recovery phase is running the wrong tool for the product on the water.

Match the skimmer to the oil, not the oil to the skimmer.

#OilSpillResponse #MarineOperations #OSREquipment

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Proud to be part of a team that treats preparedness as a daily discipline, not just a checkbox.

In OSR, readiness is measured long before an incident happens:

- Trained responders who can mobilize within IMO/OPRC response-time benchmarks
- Equipment maintained and tested to international standards (booms, skimmers, dispersant systems) so it performs under real sea-state conditions
- Dispersant use and application aligned with MARPOL Annex I and national/regional approval protocols
- Tiered response capability (Tier 1–3) that scales from local spills to major incidents requiring regional cooperation
- Continuous drills and audits to keep certifications and crew competency current

None of this works in isolation — it's the combination of trained people, compliant equipment, and rehearsed procedures that determines how fast and how cleanly we can protect coastlines and marine ecosystems when it matters most.

Grateful to work alongside a team that takes this responsibility seriously every single day.

#OilSpillResponse #MarineSafety #MARPOL #OPRC #EnvironmentalProtection

🔗 https://t.co/r2qnTgS6zh

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Why the first 30 seconds you spend choosing a skimmer decide whether you recover oil or just chase it around the water.

Most clients assume "a skimmer is a skimmer." It isn't. Recovery rate and net environmental benefit swing wildly depending on which mechanism you deploy against which oil type and sea state.

— Oleophilic drum/disc skimmers: excel on medium-to-heavy viscosity crude and weathered oil. High oil-to-water recovery ratio (often 90%+), but throughput drops fast once viscosity exceeds ~10,000 cP — the oil stops sticking and starts sliding.

— Weir skimmers: best on thin, fresh spills in calm water. Cheap, high throughput, but they recover water almost 1:1 with oil in any chop above sea state 2 — you end up storing mostly seawater.

— Brush skimmers: the workhorse for heavy, viscous, and debris-laden oil (think sargassum, ice, or shoreline debris). Higher capex, but they don't clog the way weir systems do in real-world conditions.

— Sea state is the real deciding variable, not just oil type — a drum skimmer that performs beautifully in port trials can lose 40%+ efficiency once you're working in 1-1.5m swell.

— Storage capacity planning matters as much as the skimmer itself: a high-recovery skimmer with undersized onboard storage just means more transfer cycles and more downtime.

The equipment spec sheet tells you theoretical recovery rate. Only matching skimmer type to actual oil viscosity and sea conditions tells you what you'll recover on the day it matters.

#OilSpillResponse #MarineEquipment #OSRReadiness

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Underwater capability is a critical, often underestimated pillar of complete OSR readiness:

- Hull surveys and underwater inspections are essential for early detection of structural damage that can lead to fuel or cargo leaks — a key preventive measure under MARPOL Annex I

- Emergency underwater intervention capacity directly supports OPRC compliance, enabling faster containment when a vessel casualty threatens a spill scenario

- Underwater welding/cutting and salvage support are often the deciding factor in whether a damaged hull can be stabilized in place or requires wreck removal, which changes the entire response strategy

- Combining subsea services with surface response and dispersant application gives a true end-to-end capability, from initial casualty assessment through final cleanup and remediation

Having this diving and subsea expertise within our group means faster mobilization and a single point of coordination when time-critical decisions matter most — exactly what IMO and coastal state authorities expect from a qualified Tier 2/3 OSR provider.

Proud to see this capability continuing to grow.

#OilSpillResponse #MARPOL #OPRC #MarineServices #UnderwaterOperations

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[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Most companies think having a SOPEP on the shelf means they're ready. It doesn't. It means they've passed an audit.

I've sat in rooms where a Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan was immaculate — tab dividers, contact trees, response diagrams — and the crew had never once rehearsed the first call sequence under time pressure. A document is not a reflex.

Real readiness looks different:

- Can your duty officer name the nearest Tier 1 response depot and its actual deployment time — not the number printed in the plan, but the real number, including vessel prep and crew muster?

- Has anyone actually deployed the boom listed in the SOPEP annex, or only read its spec sheet? Containment boom that's never left its container reveals problems (stiff seams, corroded shackles) only at the worst possible moment.

- Do your dispersant application rates in the plan match what your nozzle system can actually deliver at current pump pressure? Paper rates and field rates diverge more often than operators admit.

- Is your notification chain tested with the actual people on shift tonight, or only with the names who were on shift when the plan was written two years ago?

At Mare Sea Cleaning Services, we treat the SOPEP as a hypothesis to be stress-tested, not a compliance artifact. Every equipment line in that document gets physically deployed at least once a year — not simulated, deployed.

A plan you haven't rehearsed is just a well-formatted guess about how the incident will go.

#OilSpillResponse #SOPEP #MarineOperations

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

A skimmer that works perfectly in a test tank can fail completely on a real spill site — because the wrong skimmer for the conditions recovers more water than oil.

I've seen response teams grab whatever unit is closest to the depot door instead of matching the skimmer to the slick. That decision alone can double recovery time.

Here's how we actually choose on site:

- Weir skimmers — best for thin, uniform sheens in calm water. Cheap, simple, but wave action floods the weir gate and you start pumping seawater instead of oil.

- Oleophilic drum/disc skimmers — the go-to for medium-to-heavy viscosity oil. Recovery efficiency stays high because they rely on oil adhesion, not gravity flow, so they tolerate some chop and mixed emulsions.

- Brush skimmers — our choice for weathered, viscous, or emulsified oil (think post-24-hour Bunker C). The bristles handle sticky, high-viscosity product that would clog a drum unit.

- Sea state is the real variable, not just oil type — a drum skimmer rated for Sea State 2 becomes nearly useless at Sea State 3 as the belt loses contact with the slick.

- Recovery rate on paper vs. field throughput always differ — debris, weed, and ice fragments cut real efficiency 30-50% below spec sheet numbers.

The equipment list in your SOPEP means nothing if the person on deck doesn't know why that specific skimmer is on the boat.

#OilSpillResponse #MarineOperations #OSREquipment

🔗 https://t.co/PkjI0EJpWQ

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

As Operations Manager, I'm proud to see our drum skimmer technology gaining the recognition it deserves in the OSR community.

In real-world spill response, equipment selection is everything. The MR-TYS delivers where it matters most:

- **MARPOL Annex I compliance** — effective recovery of persistent oils keeps us aligned with discharge standards at port and offshore
- **OPRC Tier 1 & Tier 2 readiness** — rapid deployment capability supports first-response requirements before escalation
- **Low water uptake** = higher oil-to-water ratio in recovered fluid, reducing downstream processing costs and decanting time
- **High-viscosity performance** — critical for heavy fuel oils and crude where rope or weir skimmers lose efficiency
- **IMO MEPC guidelines** prioritize mechanical recovery as the preferred method before dispersant use — drum technology fits directly into that framework

Field experience confirms that response time and equipment reliability are the two variables that define spill outcome. Investing in proven mechanical recovery assets is not optional — it's operational duty.

Proud of our team for continuously advancing our equipment portfolio.

#OilSpillResponse #MARPOL #OSR #MarineEnvironmentalProtection #OPRC

🔗 https://t.co/PkjI0EJpWQ

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

July 1st carries deep meaning — not just as Cabotage Day, but as a reminder of our collective responsibility to protect the maritime domain we operate in.

As an OSR company, our commitment to Turkey's blue homeland goes beyond celebration:

- **MARPOL 73/78** compliance remains the backbone of clean seas — enforcement and preparedness must go hand in hand
- **OPRC Convention** obligations require nations to maintain credible response capacity; we are proud to be part of Turkey's tier response network
- **IMO's GESAMP** guidelines on dispersant use remind us that response quality matters as much as response speed
- Every nautical mile of sovereign water demands a proportional investment in spill containment, boom deployment readiness, and trained personnel

Cabotage rights gave us ownership of our waters. OSR preparedness gives us the means to protect them.

To every seafarer, response professional, and maritime stakeholder working to keep our seas clean — this day honors your dedication.

Happy Cabotage Day. 🇹🇷

#OSR #OilSpillResponse #MARPOL #MaritimeSafety #KabotajBayramı

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

When a spill happens, the first 30 minutes define everything. That's why understanding Tier 1/2/3 response levels isn't just theory — it's operational survival.

After years coordinating marine cleaning operations in the Turkish Straits region, I've seen how blurry these boundaries get in real emergencies. Here's what the training manuals don't always emphasize:

TIER 1 — Local/Facility Level

- Covers small, contained spills — but "small" is relative to your equipment on hand
- Most port facilities are certified Tier 1 but lack practiced crew — certification ≠ readiness
- First 15 minutes of containment boom deployment determine whether a Tier 1 stays a Tier 1

TIER 2 — Regional/National Level

- Requires pre-positioned resources and mutual aid agreements that actually work
- Communication gaps between port authority, coast guard, and OSR contractors are the real bottleneck
- We see this repeatedly: response plans exist, coordination doesn't

TIER 3 — International Level

- OPRC framework triggers external support — but logistics delays can add 24-48 hours
- By then, window for effective dispersant application is often closed

The uncomfortable truth: most spills that escalate from Tier 1 to Tier 2 do so not because of equipment failure, but because of activation delays and unclear command structures.

At Mare Sea, we run joint drills specifically targeting the Tier 1→2 transition. That handoff is where incidents become disasters.

Is your facility's response plan actually practiced — or just filed?

#OilSpillResponse #OPRC #MarineSafety #OSR #MarePollutionPrevention

[Samet SERTEL @SertelSamet]

Dispersant application is one of OSR's most demanding tasks. Precision, compliance, and rapid deployment define what separates purpose-built systems from improvised ones.

#OilSpillResponse #OSR

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