Every type of port in Thailand, from oil terminals to fishing ports, must hold an oil spill response plan and equipment under Marine Department Notification No. 134/2564 (B.E. 2564, 2021). The Notification sets clear numeric minimums, from boom length and skimmer recovery rate to temporary storage and the number of PPE sets, yet very little has been written to explain it. This guide summarises it directly from the Royal Gazette text, points out where it is most often misread, and covers what changed in 2026. A Thai version is also available.
The Notification at a glance
- Full title (Thai): ประกาศกรมเจ้าท่า ที่ ๑๓๔/๒๕๖๔ เรื่อง มาตรการความปลอดภัย การป้องกันและขจัดมลพิษทางน้ำเนื่องจากน้ำมัน เคมีภัณฑ์ และสารที่เป็นอันตรายประจำท่าเรือ (safety, prevention and response measures for water pollution by oil, chemicals and hazardous substances at ports)
- Signed: 30 June 2021 by the Director-General of the Marine Department
- Published in the Royal Gazette: 27 October 2021, vol. 138, special part 259 D, pp. 10–13, with an equipment annex; in force from publication
- Legal basis: sections 46 bis, 119, 119 bis and 204 of the Navigation in Thai Waters Act B.E. 2456 (1913), as amended
- Repeals: Marine Department Notification No. 411/2543 (2000)
- Status at 16 October 2026: no amendment or repeal found
Which risk class is your port in?
The Notification sorts ports into three classes by facility type and the cargo handled. It does not use port size, throughput or vessel size, so a small berth handling oil falls in the high-risk class just like a large terminal.
| Class | Ports in the class |
|---|---|
| High risk | “Ports or mooring buoys (Single Point Mooring: SPM) for transferring oil, chemicals and hazardous substances” (unofficial translation) |
| Medium risk | General cargo, container, Ro-Ro, reefer, multipurpose and bulk cargo ports, cargo high-speed craft ports, berths for mobile offshore drilling units (MODU), gas terminals and shipyards |
| Low risk | Passenger ports, passenger high-speed craft ports, marinas and fishing ports |
Two points stand out. First, offshore Single Point Moorings are named directly as high risk. Second, gas terminals and shipyards sit in the medium class, not the high class. If one facility handles both gas and oil or chemicals, confirm its class with the Marine Department before writing the plan.
What each class must do
Clauses 3 to 5 set the duties by class. The biggest difference is that high-risk ports need their plan approved by the Marine Department and must deploy boom around the ship before every transfer, while the other classes file their plan for information.
| Duty | High risk | Medium risk | Low risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port response plan | Submitted for Marine Department approval before use; valid for 3 years from the day after approval | Prepared and filed with the Marine Department for information | Prepared and filed with the Marine Department for information |
| Plan exercise | At least once a year; notify the Department before and send the results after every exercise | At least once a year; notify before and report the results | At least once a year |
| Review after each exercise | Revise the plan and resubmit it for approval | Review the plan | Review the plan |
| Pre-transfer safety check | Berth master and ship’s master complete the ISGOTT check before every transfer; ship-to-ship transfers use the Ship to Ship Transfer Guide; records kept for at least 3 months | Before bunkering: ISGOTT and ship-to-ship guidance | Before bunkering: a joint berth and ship safety check |
| Boom deployed around the ship | Before every transfer | Not required | Not required |
| Drip trays at hose flanges | Required at every transfer | Before bunkering | Before bunkering |
| Equipment | Per the annex, ready for use throughout the transfer | Per the annex | Per the annex |
The boom requirement is clause 3(6), and it covers transfers in all three directions:
“Before transferring oil, chemicals or hazardous substances from berth to ship, from ship to berth or from ship to ship, an oil containment boom must be installed/deployed … around the ship and completed before every transfer.” (unofficial translation)
In practice this makes the boom at a high-risk berth something used on every transfer, not equipment kept only for an emergency. How long it takes to deploy, which craft tows it, and how well it stands up to repeated use all belong in the equipment decision from the start.
The minimum equipment table in the annex
This table is taken from the annex to the Notification in the Royal Gazette and checked against images of the original pages. “Vessel length” means the length of the longest vessel that calls at the port.
| Item | High risk | Medium risk | Low risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Containment boom with accessories | Total length at least 3 × vessel length, and sufficient to prevent the oil from spreading | At least 2 × vessel length | A length suited to the response plan |
| 2. Beach boom, only for ports bordering a beach | At least 2 × the distance between the highest and lowest tide lines on the beach | At least 1 × that distance | Optional |
| 3. Skimmer | Oil recovery rate (excluding water) of at least 20 m³/h | At least 10 m³/h (excluding water) | Per the response plan |
| 4. Temporary storage with transfer pump and hoses | Total capacity at least 40 m³, pump at least 20 m³/h, and additional storage must be obtainable as needed | At least 20 m³, pump at least 10 m³/h | At least 2 m³ with suitable transfer equipment |
| 5. Absorbents | Absorbent boom at least 100 m; at least 200 pads of 45 × 45 cm or larger, or rolls of at least 40 m² | Absorbent boom at least 50 m; at least 100 pads, or rolls of at least 20 m² | Absorbent boom at least 20 m; at least 40 pads |
| 6. Dispersant from the Pollution Control Department’s approved list, with sprayer | At least 2,000 litres, with a high-pressure sprayer reaching at least 30 metres | At least 1,000 litres, spraying at least 15 metres | At least 40 litres, with a manual sprayer or better* |
| 7. Personal protective equipment (PPE) | At least 40 sets | At least 20 sets | At least 5 sets |
* The terminal audit checklist (TAC-01), both the version attached to Notification 135/2564 and the new one attached to Notification 56/2569, gives the low-risk dispersant quantity as “not less than 1,000 litres”, which does not match the 40 litres in the annex to 134/2564. Low-risk ports should ask the inspecting officer which figure will be applied.
Five points that are often misread
1. The 20 m³/h skimmer rate counts oil only, not water
The annex says “oil recovery rate (excluding water)”. Most catalogue figures, however, are maximum rates measured in ideal conditions. When the slick is thin, there are waves, or the oil’s viscosity does not suit the skimmer type, the skimmer picks up water as well, so the net oil rate falls below the catalogue figure.
A skimmer whose catalogue rate exactly equals the minimum therefore has no margin at all. Choose a model rated well above the minimum, and ask the manufacturer for recovery-efficiency data or a recovery-rate test result, for example to ASTM F2709, to attach to the response plan.
2. The 3× boom length is set by the longest vessel, and must also be “sufficient”
The minimum is a total length of at least 3 times the length of the longest vessel that calls at the port, not the vessel that calls most often. A berth receiving vessels up to 180 metres long, for example, needs at least 540 metres of boom; a medium-risk port needs at least 360 metres.
The Notification also requires the boom to be “sufficient to prevent the spreading of the oil if a spill occurs”, so the formula gives only a floor. The Notification does not specify boom type or height, so the choice depends on the current, the waves and the area that actually has to be enclosed at that berth. The beach boom requirement applies only to ports whose area borders a beach.
3. Dispersant must be on the Pollution Control Department list, and the sprayer must reach the required distance
A high-risk port needs at least 2,000 litres of dispersant with a high-pressure sprayer that reaches at least 30 metres, and the dispersant must be on the Pollution Control Department’s approved list. Spray distance is a figure many sprayer manufacturers do not publish, so get it in writing before relying on a sprayer in the plan.
4. The 40 m³ of temporary storage must come with a transfer pump, and more must be obtainable
The high-risk requirement is not only a total capacity of 40 m³. It also includes a transfer pump of at least 20 m³/h with hoses, and the ability to “obtain additional storage as needed”. If several tanks make up the total, list the number and capacity of each in the equipment annex to the plan, which Notification 136/2564 already requires.
5. Medium-risk ports have full obligations too
Container terminals, Ro-Ro berths, gas terminals and shipyards often assume oil spill equipment does not apply to them. The Notification requires them to hold boom of at least 2 times the vessel length, a 10 m³/h skimmer (excluding water), 20 m³ of temporary storage, absorbents, 1,000 litres of dispersant and 20 PPE sets, with a plan filed with the Marine Department and an annual exercise. Every vessel that calls carries fuel, and bunkering happens at these ports routinely.
How it links to berth inspection (2026 update)
Clause 6 makes the Marine Department’s berth inspectors, or officers assigned by the Director-General, responsible for checking compliance. Clause 7 says the Department will use compliance with the Notification as a factor in issuing the berth condition certificate, citing the Marine Department regulation on berth condition certification of 2014 (B.E. 2557).
That 2014 regulation has been repealed by the Marine Department regulation on criteria and procedures for certifying the condition of passenger landings, cargo landings and berths, B.E. 2569 (Royal Gazette, 4 March 2026), under which a certificate is valid for no more than one year. Marine Department Notification 56/2569 (Royal Gazette, 7 April 2026) then set the inspection criteria, including oil and chemical spill equipment sufficient for the risk assessment in the emergency plan, exercises in line with the annual plan, and at least one trained berth master, and attached a new TAC-01 checklist that uses the same equipment figures as the table above.
In practice, equipment under Notification 134/2564 is now checked at every annual certificate renewal. Clause 8 also makes the measures in the Notification the criteria for deciding that a berth is unsafe to use, under which section 46 bis of the Navigation in Thai Waters Act allows officers to prohibit use of the berth and order the defects corrected.
Related instruments to read alongside it
- Marine Department Notification 136/2564, guidance on preparing the port response plan, published in the same Royal Gazette issue. It sets out what the plan must contain, from risk analysis, organisation, tactics, logistics and reporting to a training or exercise plan of at least once a year and an annex listing the equipment, tools and dispersant chemicals.
- Marine Department Notification 135/2564, the original terminal audit checklist (TAC-01), now replaced by the version attached to Notification 56/2569.
- Prime Minister’s Office Regulation on the Management of Water Pollution from Oil and Chemicals, B.E. 2565 (2022), the national framework, which makes the Marine Department the secretariat and coordination centre.
- The OPRC Convention 1990 on oil pollution preparedness, response and co-operation, to which Thailand is a party, and the origin of the port plan concept.
Checklist for port operators
- Confirm the port’s risk class from the cargo actually handled, including any SPM.
- Check the plan’s expiry date (high risk: 3 years from the day after approval) and the date of the next exercise.
- Calculate boom length from the longest vessel that calls, and check it can be deployed around the ship before transfer starts.
- Check that the skimmer rate quoted in the plan is a net oil rate, or has enough margin.
- Add up temporary storage, check the transfer pump rate, and name where additional storage would come from.
- Check the dispersant is on the Pollution Control Department list and that the sprayer’s spray distance is documented.
- Count absorbent boom, 45 × 45 cm pads and PPE sets against your class.
- Keep pre-transfer safety check records (ISGOTT / ship-to-ship) for at least 3 months.
How SATU Innovative can help
SATU Innovative is the Authorized Distributor of Markleen in Thailand, covering containment boom, skimmers and temporary storage, is the appointed distributor of the NOFI Current Buster, and supplies FOILEX skimmers and pumps. Our Markleen page carries specification tables taken from the manufacturer’s datasheets, so port engineers can read them against the minimums above. Where a manufacturer does not publish a figure, such as the spray distance of a dispersant sprayer, we confirm it with the manufacturer project by project before proposing it.
For a wider review of a port’s readiness, see oil spill preparedness and how to choose a skimmer for the oil you expect.
Frequently asked questions
Which risk class is an LPG or LNG terminal in?
Under the Notification’s definitions, gas terminals are medium risk, so they need boom of at least 2 times the vessel length and the other medium-class equipment. If the same facility also handles oil or chemicals, confirm its class with the Marine Department.
Does boom have to be deployed for every transfer?
At a high-risk port, yes: boom must be deployed around the ship and completed before every transfer, from berth to ship, ship to berth and ship to ship, under clause 3(6). The Notification does not set this requirement for medium- and low-risk ports.
Does a skimmer rated 20 m³/h in its catalogue meet the high-risk minimum?
Not necessarily. The minimum counts only the oil recovered, excluding water, while catalogue figures are usually maximum rates. Choose a model rated above the minimum, with recovery-efficiency data to support it.
How long is the port response plan valid?
A high-risk port’s plan is valid for 3 years from the day after the Marine Department approves it, and a plan revised after an exercise must be resubmitted for approval. Medium- and low-risk ports file their plan with the Department, and the Notification sets no validity period for it.
Has Notification 134/2564 been amended or repealed?
As of 16 October 2026, no amendment or repeal has been found in the Royal Gazette or the Marine Department’s law database. What has changed is the berth condition certification regulation, reissued in 2026.
Can any brand of dispersant be used?
No. The Notification requires a dispersant on the Pollution Control Department’s approved list. Check the latest list before buying.
Want your port’s equipment checked against Notification 134/2564? Send us the cargo you handle, the length of the longest vessel that calls, and the wave and current conditions at the berth, and we will help you draw up the equipment list. Contact our team or see the Markleen equipment specifications.
Sources: Marine Department Notification 134/2564 (Royal Gazette) · Marine Department Notification 136/2564 · Marine Department law database · Marine Department berth condition certification regulation B.E. 2569 · Marine Department Notification 56/2569. Quotations from the Thai text are unofficial translations. Last checked 16 October 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice; please confirm the requirements that apply to your port with the Marine Department.