Def secy unveils NATPOLREX off Mormugao harbour

In a press release, the coast guard stated that the event was attended by more than 85 participants from 50 agencies, which included 29 foreign observers from 22 friendly foreign countries and international organisations and two coast guard ships from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

DG VS Pathania, PTM, TM, Director General Indian Coast Guard, who is also the Chairman of NOSDCP and the Competent National Authority for marine pollution at sea for SACEP MoU in the Indian waters, in his address, shared that ICG remains committed to understand and address the threats to the region and its resources, including marine oil and chemical spill at sea. He stressed that as new vulnerabilities continue to emerge, the stakeholders must recognize the opportunity to enhance cooperation through stronger partnerships, effective coordination and exchange of best practices.

It is worth mentioning that NATPOLREX VIII is being conducted congruent to marine pollution response training of 43 participants at Chennai from 18-29 April 2022, bilateral dialogue between Director General Indian Coast Guard and Director-General SACEP (South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme) along with the participation of ships and representatives from SACEP member States and the Colombo Security Conclave at Mumbai on 21-22 April 2022 wherein a dedicated, two-day workshop, for representatives of member states is being scheduled, the press release added.

Presently, as the third-largest importer of crude, India receives a large volume of oil through ships. Similarly, India stands sixth in the world as a major chemical importer country. Both oil and chemicals, if spilt, pose inherent risks to the Maritime Zones of India and the connected coastlines housing a large coastal population, marine eco-system, industries and various installations along with supporting the tourism industry. Preventive measures, by the Central Coordinating Agency, Ship Owners, Oil Handling Facilities and other concerned stakeholders are thus, required to be taken to prepare for combating any likely Marine Spill, said the press release.

NATPOLREX VIII aims at validating the procedures and guidelines as contained in the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP) at the National and also at the Regional level under the aegis of SACEP MoU to which India is a Member State. During the exercise, various components of NOSDCP were invoked to validate and improve the contingency plans and to evaluate the preparedness of the resource agencies as well as stakeholders to meet any marine spill disaster at sea. The exercise is coordinated by the Indian Coast Guard encompassing assets from resource agencies and stakeholders including ports, Oil Handling Agencies (OHAs), coastal States/UTs and other resource agencies. The exercise consisted of a two-day programme featuring table-top exercises, a pollution response workshop on marine oil and HNS spill followed by an exercise at sea, which was reviewed by Chairman NOSDCP in presence of National and International Observers, stated the press release.

Dr Md Masumur Rahman, Director General of South Goa Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) and DG VS Pathania, PTM, TM, Director General Indian Coast Guard, were also present at the occasion the release adds.

During the sea exercise, 13 ships and 10 aircraft from the Indian Coast Guard and one aircraft from IAF (C-131), two ships from SACEP members states viz Sri Lankan Coast Guard and Bangladesh Coast Guard and one OSV from ONGC, assets from SCI and tugs from Mormugao Port Trust demonstrated containment cum marine spill recovery by side sweeping arms, deployment of booms and skimmers, streaming of single ship operated containment cum recovery system, firefighting drill, rescue operation, and demonstration of surface and air oil spill

dispersant systems, said the press release.