Published on May 27, 2024

Vessels are one of the essential components in the oil and gas industry logistics. Every day, vessels are responsible for transporting not only materials needed for exploration and production, but the people who are on the frontline. People who require adequate sustenance, even in the middle of the sea.

Single-use bottles and utensils have been commonplace for life at sea: it is convenient, it requires no effort to clean, and it is cheap.

What it is not? It is not kind to our earth.

It was while having a bottle of water when Captain Deepak Jain, BSP’s Marine Operations Lead, asked himself – how much plastic waste is generated on a vessel?

While the answer did not come immediately and required tough tracking and calculation, he soon found it.

It was approximately 400,000 plastic bottles per year, per vessel. With 12 workboats within the BSP Logistics Delivery Marine (LDM) fleet, operations would see up to 4 million plastic bottles wasted every year.

This was a problem, and it needed a solution. Fast.

It was not going to be easy, but nothing worth fighting for comes easy – and thus a new fight began for the team at LDM department, dubbed as the ‘War on Plastic’.

The mission was clear: they were eliminating single-use plastics on their vessels.

“This would require a change in crew habits, management intervention, and cost-saving efforts. It is not straightforward. There will be some inconvenience, but that is something we felt everyone should be ready for,” shared Captain Deepak.

What would entail in the next two years would be a journey of advocacy and implementation.

Extensive communications strategy was put in place; the team made sure to create awareness on the implementation through stakeholder engagements while advertising the incoming change through banners and noticeboards.

 

Banners were in place for offshore crews to read prior to boarding their vessels.

 

Beginning with workboat Icon Kayra in 2020, the identified pilot vessel, the team initially integrated reusable bottles as an alternative to its single-use counterparts. The implementation was enthusiastically embraced by 190 Marine, and Offshore Reliability Maintenance and Construction (ORMC) crews onboard.

“We found it useful because we can always refill our bottles. It also kept our water cold longer while we work in the heat,” shared one of the crews on Icon Kayra.  

 

Crews offshore proudly showcasing their reusable water bottles.

 

Shahrel Timbang, BSP’s Marine Contract Holder, worked closely with the vessel during this implementation phase. He kept his ears on the ground during the rollout, taking in the crew’s feedback while monitoring the amount of plastic waste generated by the vessel.

The responses were positive, the wastes reduced.

Building on the success, the initiative was replicated onto 12 more workboats  

Today, reusable bottles are a contractual requirement for any new vessel working for BSP. They have also extended the scope of the movement by integrating the use of reusable food containers, which have resulted in approximately 580,000 fewer plastic food containers in our landfills.

Additionally, the movement have not only reduced plastic waste, but saved the company on garbage-handling costs.

“Apart from decreasing the amount of plastic waste, since 2021 we have also avoided a spending of around BND400,000 per year – the usual amount related to managing garbage handling. Managing waste from offshore is a long process, requiring multiple rubbish skips and an extended offshore-onshore journey,” shared Shahrel.

 

 

The ‘War on Plastic’ is an inspiring example of the team’s consciousness and commitment for a cleaner earth. While the initial journey proved to be challenging, the team persisted and encountered success. It was also a testament of courage to not only challenge status quo, but to identify a real problem and provide effective solutions. 

This drive for sustainability is a true showcase of BSP’s mission of Sustainably Powering Brunei!