Two Major Exercises on the Same Day!
2 major exercises, 3 continents, 4 countries, multiple stakeholders, over 300 participants and 2 satisfied clients – all on the same day!
Although not a deliberate plan, SpillConsult had a particularly busy day recently!
For BP we delivered a combined source control and spill exercise as part of pre-spud preparations for their Mauritania and Senegal drilling campaign. This is a new region for BP so multiple aspects of emergency preparedness needed to be tested at the same time, as part of BP’s commitment to safe operations and growing important C&CM capabilities in the region. A unique incident management team split between London, Dakar and Nouakchott; with an additional source control team, specialist contractors and members of BP’s global support team were all integrated into the response.
We had a team of 12 facilitators alongside BP’s own exercise staff and coaches, spread over the three countries to ensure the objectives were met. It was deliberately designed as a very challenging exercise with a complex structure, many unknowns and some essential elements that had to be demonstrated successfully.
After a busy day for all concerned the best thing we could have heard from our client was “The team and the entire preparation and delivery was excellent – meeting the high expectations we set for this important aspect of preparing for safe operations in the region” (Ross Zaccarini: Crisis & Continuity Management and Emergency Response Manager, BP Mauritania and Senegal Region).
On the exact same day on Vancouver Island another SpillConsult team was delivering a multi-agency live deployment oil spill response exercise on behalf of WCMRC (Western Canada Marine Response Corporation). This involved 10 agencies, 7 First Nations, 18 vessels and over 200 people in the field, IMT and Unified Command combined.
We had a multidisciplinary team of 6 people within Exercise Control. It was a complicated exercise simulating a spill from a grounded vessel, in an extremely sensitive area. Throughout the exercise WCMRC successfully deployed a multitude of response strategies and resources based on the real time (simulated) information provided (including information from real time Canadian Coastguard overflights, drones and reports from the field).
It was also the first time we trialled SpillConsults new Media Portal, to simulate social and press media reports. The feedback on this was excellent, and we are continuing to develop it, to be launched this Summer.
All in all, a great performance by our amazing teams, and more importantly the clients were very happy with the outcomes.
