Qualified Individual (QI) Services

Since the inception of OPA '90, GMS has been providing this most critical service to thousands of ships, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.  We maintain a staff of highly qualified, continuously trained QI's that specialize in Incident Management and regulatory compliance. 

Advantages of the GMS Qualified Individual:

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.  

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Authorized Person (AP) Services

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: