Greetings from OIL SPILL Project Manager Jarmo Malmsten!

Had the pandemic not happened, Project Manager Jarmo Malmsten would probably be making the last arrangements for the final conference now in April 2021. However, the COVID-19 changed the situation. Consequently, we were also given the opportunity to prolong the project duration until the end of 2021, which Jarmo considers very important for OIL SPILL.

“Now, we are not in a rush to wrap up the Project in the midst of everything. Although the formats have been changed, we still have two of our largest oil spill response (OSR) exercises coming up next month: Vellamo in Finland and KOPOS in Lithuania. Also the Fanø exercise and conference will be arranged in Denmark later on this year.”

Currently, Jarmo is organizing the OIL SPILL participation in the HELCOM BALEX DELTA exercise that is planned to be held in Finland next autumn. The OIL SPILL team will have an observer status in some of the activities there.

“BALEX DELTA makes a good addition to our activity calendar. The exercise will host a comprehensive variety of actors from all around the Baltic Sea Region. I was positively surprised by the number of people who signed up from our part and the list of countries they represent. It will be a great occasion for our partners to meet and interact with each other face-to-face, finally. We will also arrange some additional activities for our group.”

Jarmo hopes that other live meetings and at least small international exercises can be arranged during the final part of the Project. However, he is also content with what is achieved so far and how the Partners adjusted to the changes the pandemic posed. 

”We aim to enhance OSR capabilities across the Baltic Sea Region – not only in the pilot area in Southwest Finland. Since all Partner countries have different baselines, also the project achievements are different in each country. Whereas some may have taken the first steps in the voluntary oil spill response, some are already developing the recruitment of spontaneous volunteers, for instance. In any case, we have all learned from each other and how OSR is arranged in different countries. A significant outcome of OIL SPILL will be the regional and cross-regional networks that are built during the Project and last beyond it.”

Although the pandemic caused disturbances, it also led to the creation of new and alternative practices. Some of them – such as casual online meetings and webinars – have actually proven to be so valuable that Jarmo will apply them also in future projects.