The "ARPEL Oil Spill Response Planning and Readiness Assessment Manual" was presented at the XL Port Meeting of the Central American Isthmus (REPICA), which was organized by midyear by the Port Authority of the Dominican Republic and the Central American Commission on Maritime Transportation (COCATRAM) in the city of Santo Domingo.

The presentation was made by Darío Miranda in the panel on "Project for Strengthening Port Environmental Management." Miranda is a marine biologist specialized in Environmental Engineering. He worked with Ecopetrol for 22 years and currently serves as a private consultant in the region on the issues of contingency planning, incident command system, spill control and environmental impact assessment, and as an instructor for LAMOR Corporation and Oil Spill Response Ltd.

RETOS® (Readiness Evaluation/Excel Tool for Oil Spills) constitutes a unique assessment tool that provides guidance for operators in the oil and gas sector and in governments to verify their own oil spill preparedness and response management.

RETOS® has become an international reference on the subject, and is currently used by companies and governments in the five continents. The tool is available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese, and can be downloaded free of charge by clicking here

The following month, Miguel Moyano, Upstream Director of ARPEL, made a presentation of the Manual and tool RETOS® in the workshop on "Response to marine oil pollution,“ organized by the National Naval Command in Montevideo, Uruguay, which was attended by naval authorities and representatives of other local institutions.