The OPRC Convention was adopted in November 1990 at diplomatic Conference convened by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). It entered into force in May 1995. As its name indicates, it deals with preparing for and responding to oil pollution incidents, not only from ships but also from offshore oil exploration and production platforms, sea ports and oil handling facilities.

The Convention recognizes that in the event of pollution incident, prompt and effective action is essential. This in turn depends on the establishment of oil pollution emergency plans on ships and offshore installations, and at ports and oil handling facilities, together with national and regional contingency plans as appropriate. The Convention is intended to encourage this process and at the same time to establish a frame work for international cooperation in responding to pollution emergencies which will enable maximum resources to be mobilized as quickly as possible.

The main features of the Convention are as follows:

Oil pollution Emergency Plan. Ships will be required to carry detailed plans for dealing with pollution emergencies. Masters of ships, port authorities and others will be required to report pollution incidents without delay and the Convention defines the actions to be taken when a report is received. If the incident is sufficiently serious other States likely to be affected must be informed and details must also be given to IMO.

Response Systems. The Convention encourages the establishment of national and regional systems for responding pollution incidents. These systems should include features such as a national contingency plan, the pre-positioning of oil spill combating equipments, and exercises in dealing with spills.

International Cooperation. This is a key features of the Convention. Parties to the Convention agree to cooperate and provide advisory services, technical support and equipment at the request of other Parties. The financing of the costs involved is dealt with in an Annex to the Convention.

IMO itself is designated to perform a number of functions. These include the provision of information services, the provision of education and training programmes, cooperation in research and development.

In addition to the Convention, the Conference adopted several resolutions. One of them envisages expanding the scope of the Convention to hazardous and noxious substances other than oil.

The OPRC Convention has been accepted by the NOPWAP member States (the Russian Federation is currently preparing to accept it).

Full Text of the OPRC '90 in English  or in Korean