Coast Guard conducts major pollution response exercise off Mangalore

Coast Guard conducts major pollution response exercise off Mangalore

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Nov 15, 2019: Coast Guard conducts two days Area Level Pollution Exercise jointly with  New Mangalore port Trust (NMPT), Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) to evaluate the capabilities and Response Mechanism at sea off Karnataka coast on 15 November 2019. Preservation and protection of marine ecology and environment including combating oil spill at sea is one of the chartering of Indian Coast Guard. The two-day exercise aimed to evaluate the capabilities and response mechanism of various stakeholders at sea off Karnataka coast as per National Oil Spill Disaster and Contingency Plan(NOSDCP).
 

The Tabletop exercise was held on 14 Nov 2019 and focused on pollution response wherein the Spill Management Team demonstrated the procedures, policies and capability to operate within the frame work of their Emergency Response Plan alongwith mobilisation of appropriate resource and execute communications and decision-making, to effectively manage a worst-case spill response in the coastal state of Karnataka under the provisions of the NOSDCP for Tier-I and Tier-II Spills. 

The second day of the exercise was focused on readiness and integration of the resource agencies equipment, communication procedure and effectiveness of training of oil spill response. One Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), ICGS Vikram and one Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV), ICGS Savitri Phule of Indian Coast Guard along with tugs and barges belonging to NMPT participated in the exercise.

The stakeholders gained significance from the two-day Area Level Pollution Exercise view increase in movement of oil carrying vessels in the region due to the presence of MRPL oil refinery and other petrochemical industries. The evaluation of the tabletop exercise was a critical step in cultivating the effective emergency response plans for the coastal state of Karnataka.