“This exercise has been planned for some time to enhance and refresh the skills of relevant staff. It goes without saying that we hope to not have to use these skills in an emergency situation. Members of the public should be comforted by the knowledge that we have locally-based, expertly trained staff to deal with potential oil spills if the situation arises”
A three-day specialised training programme in the management of oil spills has culminated in the spectacular deployment of a containment boom around the Pacific Jewel cruise ship.
The ship is docked in Apia Harbour for the United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States (S.I.D.S).
The oil spill response training has been undertaken through a partnership between the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (S.P.R.E.P), Maritime New Zealand and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (A.M.S.A).
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The training programme, facilitated by experts from all three organisations, has covered a variety of different topics including the causes of oil spills and their impact on environmental and human health.
A particular emphasis has been on the management of the specialty equipment used in oil spill response and containment - such as the boom that was deployed yesterday.
One of the training instructors, Scott Reed from Maritime New Zealand, has praised the enthusiasm of the 23 participants who represent a variety of different local agencies including the Samoa Ports Authority; Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure;
Petroleum Product Supplies; Samoa Shipping Corporation; Maritime Police; and the Fire Emergency Service Authority.
“You can tell from the questions and the feedback that there’s a high level of enthusiasm and investment from this group of participants,” he said.
“They’re always looking for ways to improve on their current practices and have been very proactive in coming up with ideas of how they could use local solutions for oil spill response - for example by stringing together drums to act as a containment boom or to use coconut husks as an absorbent to help mop up spills.”
S.P.R.E.P’s Marine Pollution Officer, Scott Willson, currently on secondment from AMSA, explains that the practical experience of deploying such a large containment boom around the Pacific Jewel has been invaluable for the participants:
“This was a fantastic opportunity for our team to get first-hand experience of deploying a 500 metre boom around a vessel.
And considering it was the first attempt for a lot of them they’ve done a terrific job! We want to thank all the agencies involved in allowing us to deploy the boom - particularly the Samoan Ports Authority and the Pacific Jewel.”
Tufuga Fagaloa Tufuga, C.E.O of the Samoa Ports Authority, has emphasised that there is no actual oil spill from the Pacific Jewel, and that the exercise is purely for training purposes:
“This exercise has been planned for some time to enhance and refresh the skills of relevant staff. It goes without saying that we hope to not have to use these skills in an emergency situation.”
“Members of the public should be comforted by the knowledge that we have locally-based, expertly trained staff to deal with potential oil spills if the situation arises.
We are grateful that S.P.R.E.P, A.M.S.A and Maritime New Zealand have been able to assist us with this valuable training.”
The specially designed boom placed around the Pacific Jewel is one of several that have been loaned to Samoa by the Australian Government as the result of the ongoing partnership between S.P.R.E.P and A.M.S.A and at the request of Samoa’s Ministry of Water, Transport and Infrastructure.
The deployment of the boom around the Pacific Jewel is just one component of a wider body of waste management activities being undertaken by S.P.R.E.P in support of the Samoan Government and the UN Conference on S.I.D.S.
Two other rubbish containment booms have been set up on the Vaisigano and Mulivai rivers over the past week. Other activities have included an extensive waste audit, river clean-up and the provision of bins and collection services to the S.I.D.S conference venue.
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