Testing UK response to oil spill in Isles of Scilly
The UK is
testing elements of its response to an oil spill incident today and tomorrow
(25th and 26th May) by running an equipment exercise on St Mary’s in the Isles
of Scilly.
The exercise is
simulating how the UK would react to a pollution incident with a focus on
at-sea and shoreline protection. The exercise is testing how effectively and
efficiently counter pollution equipment and personnel can be deployed to an
incident.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is leading the
exercise and is working closely with the counter pollution equipment contractor
Braemar Howells, the Council of the Isles of Scilly and Isles of Scilly Harbour
Authority.
During the two day exercise a variety of different
counter pollution equipment will be deployed at Porth Hellick on St Mary’s and
at-sea from the port. A number of vessels will be involved and oil protection
booms and relatively new equipment will be tested such as the Nofi Current
Buster see link to article and picture:
Gail Robertson,
MCA Counter Pollution Team said:
'Thankfully,
modern navigational safety improvements mean that the Isles of Scilly are no
longer blighted with the tragedy of vessels being regularly wrecked on their
coastline despite the large number of vessels which pass through the nearby
waters every year.
'Nevertheless,
with thousands of small islands scattered around the UK coast from the Shetland
Isles down to the Isles Of Scilly, it’s right that we continue to test and
exercise our response capability around the entire UK to improve our readiness
should a major oil pollution incident occur in the future.
'This exercise will give the UK an opportunity to assess its response capability to pollution in an environmentally sensitive and ecologically precious location.'
'This exercise will give the UK an opportunity to assess its response capability to pollution in an environmentally sensitive and ecologically precious location.'