Panama Canal’s Weather Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (PCSOPEP)
Per the emergency plan all vessels approaching Canal waters for transit must submit a Panama Canal Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (PCSOPEP) at least 96 hours prior the vessel’s arrival. This law was made effective January 1, 2005, is applicable to vessels with fuel and/or oil cargo-carrying capacity of 400 MT or more. The carrying capacity of a vessel is defined as sum of the capacities of all oil cargo tanks and fuel tanks. A vessel that meets this size shall submit their PCSOPEP to the ACP for verification, and shall be classified according to the following categories