Sammy Galea has been employed by ORCA for seven years, firstly as a casual employee and since 2007 as a permanent employee of the company.  He is a currently employed within the company as a Senior Responder.

Since 1996 Mr Galea has attended over 500 Tier 1 oil spills in Victoria when employed by Melbourne Port Services, Skilled Maritime Services and ORCA.

He has also participated as a responder to Tier 2/3 spills, including several marine oil spills that impacted Phillip Island, WAG Pipeline spill, HMAS Manoora spill and the Pacific Adventurer incident in Queensland in where he worked as a beach cleanup supervisor. Mr Galea responded to the Pasha Bulker incident off Newcastle as a Victorian representative of the National Response Team (NRT).

Mr Galea’s routine operations include responding to and assessing reports of oil spills and undertaking clean up operations and providing on-site support in the audit, servicing and repair of oil pollution equipment throughout Victoria, South Australia and a number of locations in Western Australia on behalf of State and Federal government agencies, industry and private companies.

Mr Galea has attended a range of National Plan training courses from operator through to management levels. He has also participated in National Response Team (NRT) training in Victoria and Queensland, West Australian State Response Team training in that State and State exercises in Victoria.

As a result of his attendance at oil spills as a Senior Responder within the company and prior to this when employed by others and his attendance at equipment operator and NRT training courses and exercises, Mr Galea has a significant degree of experience in the operational use, servicing and repair of oil spill response equipment, including that held by AMSA, State authorities and industry.

Mr Galea holds a range of qualifications and certificates that assist him perform his day-to-day activities on behalf of ORCA and ORCA clients. These include a Certificate in Bunker Transfer Inspection, Certificate in Tanker Safety and Security, Forklift Operator Certificate and Heavy Rigid Vehicle Licence.  Mr Galea holds an Advanced First Aid Certificate and a Certificate in First Aid and Emergency Care (including oxygen resuscitation and use of semi-automatic external defibrillator).

Sammy is a knowledgeable and skilled Senior Responder with significant practical knowledge and experience in the use of oil spill response equipment.  He is well qualified to provide support to ORCA clients in a range of activities, including response operations and equipment maintenance; this includes availability nationwide to provide support to government and industry agencies affected by a major oil spill.