Emergency drill involving a cruise ship moored in the Port of Tarragona passed with flying colours

The drill simulated an incident of sabotage resulting in a fire on a cruise ship moored on the Llevant dock

On Monday morning the Port of Tarragona carried out an emergency drill with a passenger vessel. The aim was to test the integration of the vessel’s emergency plans with all the agents involved, adjusting the emergency management system for cruise ships moored in the port. The drill was also used to verify coordination between the Port’s own resources and the rest of the emergency services.

The exercise consisted of a simulated sabotage of a cruise ship moored on the Llevant Wharf. It was directed by the Port of Tarragona and coordinated by all the emergency teams: the Tarragona Harbourmaster, the Port Police, Tarragona Maritime Safety and Rescue, the Guardia Civil, the Generalitat Fire Service, the Chemical Industrial Estate Fire Service, Prevenport, Civil Protection, the Red Cross and the cruise ship’s own security services (vessel shipping agent: Pérez y Cía).

The activity highlighted the importance of cooperation between the different security and emergency services, as well as the operational difficulties that can arise in situations of this type.

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Coordination between plans, fundamental

Durant the drill the already existing plans for such cases were activated: the vessel’s emergency plan, the Port Self-Protection Plan and Protection Plan (PAU and PPP).

Coordination between action plans is very important because, as well as being a way of standardising the reaction of the teams involved that are present at the time of the emergency, it gives confidence to the people affected and minimises the possibility that new risks will emerge.

Drill passed with flying colours

All the teams involved in the drill demonstrated their professionalism in carrying out an exercise of this type. Once the simulation was over, the results were analysed and evaluated in order to continue working on the continuous improvement of the reaction to this type of event.

Port of Tarragona sources expressed their satisfaction at how well the drill went, stating that "the Port of Tarragona is an example to be followed by the other ports of the Spanish state network, having pioneered emergency drills in the petrochemical sector with positive results".

On 20 and 21 June in Tinglado 1 on the Costa Wharf, the Port of Tarragona is organising the first technical conference on emergency management in a port environment, offering all those involved in such important tasks an excellent opportunity to study and analyse them.

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