Ipieca and the UK and Ireland Spill Association co-hosted a two-day alternative fuels spill tabletop exercise at the Ipieca offices in London 14-15 January.
Three spill scenarios exercised focused on marine incidents involving alternative fuels and hazardous and noxious substances: ammonia, liquified natural gas (LNG), very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) and sulphuric acid.
Thirty participants from across the shipping, port, regulator and response communities were split into three groups to undertake the tabletop exercise using Sea Alarm’s OneX model. This enabled the groups to evolve the scenarios to maximise learning.
The exercise scenarios highlighted issues around speed of response and notification, resource and equipment capability, managing response in such a dynamic environment, and the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration.
The lessons learnt will be applied to a live exercise using a real vessel and port, planned for later in 2025.
Thanks to all who participated and to Hugo Nijkamp and Daniela Barreras-Biesot from Sea Alarm Foundation who curated a dynamic and fun learning experience.
