Qualified Individual (QI) Services

GMS provides a “live”, QI watchstander twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. When your Master telephones a GMS QI, they immediately speak to a QI, not an answering service

Every watchstander is trained and experienced in both the duties and responsibilities of the QI and in the necessary technical and legal requirements of proper response to oil spill casualties.

The QI serves as a point of contact for the ship when she is conducting OPA-90-required quarterly communications exercises. GMS participates in an average of 15 communication exercises daily.

When an unannounced drill is called on a vessel by a state or the U.S. Coast Guard, the QI is able to handle the call immediately, coordinate agency notifications and guide the master in proper response to the drill scenario

Our QIs regularly assist vessels with Port Entry/Detention problems, Ballast Water Management and Average Most Probable Discharge (AMPD) issues.

In the event of a marine casualty, the GMS QI is fully qualified to initiate all necessary response activities in an expedient manner

In providing QI services, GMS Qualified Individuals have successfully directed responses to many large scale casualties involving hundreds of response workers and employing significant resources.

Our QIs routinely guide response to minor casualties such as soft groundings, deck spills, and machinery/tail shaft leaks. They can also draw from their regulatory and shipping experience on problems unrelated to spills or can enlist others with local knowledge and special experience to assist.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) requires that an Authorized Person (AP) is named in the Panama Canal Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (PCSOPEP) The AP:

• Must live in Panama
• Must be familiar with the PCSOPEP
• Serves as liaison between vessel and Panama Canal Authority
• Must have general knowledge of Incident Management System
• Through GMS`s network of qualified personnel, AP services can be arranged.