Join KOPOS2021 Oil Spill Response Exercise and Seminar Virtually on 26–27 May

SCENARIO: “25 May 2021, 9 PM, Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) receives a message about a large amount of crude oil spill into the Baltic sea at the oil terminal “X”. Something had happened and the terminal’s single point mooring buoy spilled the oil into the sea. MRCC starts the rescue operation. They activate two ships for oil collection and helicopters and drones to investigate the situation. After some time, MRCC evaluates the scale of the disaster: about 20 tons of oil has been spilled. With the specialized software, they calculate that the oil slick will split into three parts that will contaminate three different stretches of the Lithuanian coastline. The neighboring Republic of Latvia is also informed of the extent of the disaster and asked to prepare for the possible consequences. Information about the places where the oil slicks will reach is passed forward to the Fire and Rescue Department under the Ministry of Interior (FRD) and other institutions. The Fire and Rescue Department activates its own resources. The calculations show that crude oil slicks will reach the coastline at 11 AM in three different municipalities. The exercise begins.”

The Fire and Rescue Department of Lithuania is organizing KOPOS2021 oil spill response (OSR) exercise together with the various partners on 26–27 May 2021. The aim is to improve collaboration between different responsible organizations to collect spilled oil in the Baltic Sea and coastal areas.

KOPOS2021 will be an interactive tabletop exercise on Wednesday, 26 May, from 9 to 13 (CET), followed by a webinar on OSR capability in the Baltic Sea Region on Thursday, starting at 9 (CET). Everyone interested is welcome to participate in both events virtually. For the English-speaking observers, a simultaneous translation from Lithuanian into English will be provided during the tabletop exercise.

On 27 May, the webinar “Enhancing oil spill response capability in the Baltic Sea Region” is held completely in English (see the programme below). In this webinar, you will learn about international and multi-sectoral collaboration as well as the state-of-the-art technologies used in OSR.

Mindaugas Kruopys from the Fire and Rescue Department of Lithuania is looking forward to next week: “It is really important to test how the cooperation between different authorities goes and what can be improved in it. We calculated that seventeen different organizations are involved in KOPOS2021: starting from the Lithuanian Navy to different municipalities, police, medical organizations, environmental authorities and ending with NGOs and volunteers. These will be interesting two days.”

Watch the KOPOS webinar here.