New Mangalore: Area level Pollution Response (PR) exercise was carried out on Nov 3 off New Mangalore. The exercise was coordinated by New Mangalore Port Authority in cooperation with the Indian Coast Guard, M/s MRPL and other Oil Handling Agencies. In the two-day long exercise, Table Top exercise was undertaken on Nov 2 where PR plan was strategized along with necessary risk assessment and way ahead. The actual at-sea deployment of equipment was undertaken on Nov 3 off New Mangalore, where an oil spill situation was simulated by rupturing of oil pipe of Single Point Mooring (SPM).
The main aim of the exercise is to check and assess the modalities of undertaking PR operations as well as to guage the efficiency and efficacy of oil handling agencies as well as port to handle their respective level of oil spill. In addition, various PR equipment onboard the ICG and MRPL vessels viz. Nearshore Booms, Skimmers, and Spill Spray arms were deployed to contain and recover the spilt oil.
Deputy Inspector General PK Mishra, Commander Coast Guard, Headquarters, Karnataka stated that “The exercise has got its due relevance in the situation of sunken vessel MV Princess Miral off the coast, which is still containing 220 tonnes of fuel along with 90 tonnes of engine oil. Though efforts are underway to extract oil prior onset of the monsoon, the raison d’ etre of the exercise is to prepare the respective organisation’s PR team to work in tandem for any oil spill contingency.
The exercise was suitably executed where Indian Coast Guard Ships ICGS Vikram and C-448 along with tug Aqua Marine of MRPL were deployed in PR configuration and requisite actions were carried out as per SOPs.
