History

The Fast Oil Spill Team, more commonly known as FOST, is an operational centre that belongs to TotalEnergies, with a response team and an oil spill response equipment stockpile

The motivation behind FOST’s creation lay in TotalEnergies’ need for an oil spill response equipment stockpile, against a backdrop of major oil tanker disasters, such as the Amoco Cadiz spill in 1978, or more recently the Erika spill in 1999 on the coast of Brittany.

FOST was created in 1991, in the form of an Economic Interest Group, through an agreement, signed in 1993, between the City of Marseille, BMPM (the Marseille Naval Fire Battalion) and TotalEnergies

Its governance is overseen by TotalEnergies staff:

a Sole Administrator (in Paris)
a General Manager
and a Mangement Accountant (in Paris)

In addition, the team comprises:

a Spill Response HSE Assistant (in Paris)
2 permanent Naval Firefighters + 30 naval firefighters as backup
2 Civilian Technicians

FOST was initially based in the Marseille Provence airport zone, before setting up its head office in Rognac (Tête Noire area) in 2002.

Very quickly, thanks to its skills and experience, FOST became a key tool for training personnel and providing different oil spill response services both internally and for third parties (industry, administrations, etc.).

Since late 2021, FOST has been based in Vitrolles, in the Anjoly Zone, near the Marseille Provence airport.

If you happen to be passing by, come and meet the FOST team!