Interior Maritime Plan Response Drill in the Port of Tarragona

The response drill consisted a spill of crude oil in the sea from a vessel during an unloading operation

The objective of the drill was to activate and verify the Port of Tarragona Interior Maritime Plan, at the same time as confirming the deployment of the sea barriers, their connections and the activation times

This Tuesday the Port of Tarragona and the Harbourmaster tested the Interior Maritime Plan (PMI) between 8 am and 1 pm. The exercise consisted of the simulation of a 200-litre spill of crude oil from a vessel during an unloading operation.

The response drill made it possible to verify the efficacy of the PMI, the correct deployment of the sea barriers and the time taken to deploy the aforementioned 850-metre-long barriers. It was also used to analyse the measures in place to protect the port facilities, as well as to monitor the coordination of the actions of the different groups, together with the correct functioning of the communications systems.

In addition to the Port of Tarragona and the Harbourmaster, Maritime Rescue (SASEMAR), the Marine Contamination Response Team (PRCM), the Red Cross, the Guardia Civil and Civil Defence also took part in the exercise.

Durante the tasks undertaken, the Port of Tarragona president, Josep Maria Cruset, monitored the rollout of the response drill and the initial results of the exercise from the Port Control building.

Approximately one hundred people took part in today’s response drill. They demonstrated their professionalism and capacity to undertake such an exercise, as well as the ability to analyse and evaluate the results obtained in order to achieve the continuous improvement of this type of action.

Emergency Management

The actions necessary to oversee the simulated emergency, as well as the mobilisation of the human and material resources used in the intervention were coordinated by the Harbourmaster, Núria Obiols, and the director of Corporative Development and Sustainability of the Tarragona Port Authority, Joan Basora. They agreed on emphasising that “the Port of Tarragona is an example to be followed by the Spanish state ports, as it is pioneering in petrochemical emergency response drills”. They also positively assessed “the undertaking of the exercise and the coordination of all the participants in the response drill.”