NOWPAP Conducts Joint Oil Spill Exercise in Qingdao

Qingdao, PR China — The 2nd Joint NOWAP Oil Spill Exercise was conduced on 2 September 2008 in Qingdao, PR China. This exercise was jointly organized by China Maritime Safety Administration and the Korea Coast Guard as one of the activities under the NOWPAP programme of work for 2008. The purpose of having this joint activity was to check the coordination between Chinese and Korean authorities in dealing with oil spill emergency preparedness and response. More than two dozen vessels, including two from Korea, an airplane and helicopter participated in the drill with more than 500 people observing the exercise. Representatives from 16 national and local agencies and related industries participated in the event. International observers included NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit and the Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Centre (NOWPAP MERRAC), International Maritime Organization, Japan Coast Guard and a Singapore based oil spill-response company.The exercise presented a scenario where a vessel lost control due to a fire caused by a circuit failure in the engine room and collided with an oil tanker anchored nearby. As a result of the incident, about 1,000 tones of oil were spilled and the crew needed to be evacuated. The exercise, which was divided into rescue effort and oil spill response, was conduced smoothly and successfully. Both national and local media have widely reported the event.This is the second NOWPAP joint oil spill exercise. The first one was held in Aniva Bay (Sakhalin Island, Russia) in 2006 and was jointly organized by Russia and Japan.