Managing and responding to maritime incidents involving hazardous and noxious substances (HNS), usually chemicals, is an important element of IMO’s work. As well adopting global regulations dealing with these issues, in particular the so-called “OPRC-HNS Protocol”, IMO also conducts practical training exercises.
Last week (13-16 November) REMPEC, the IMO-administered pollution emergency response centre in the Mediterranean, delivered such a training course in Turkey. It brought together representatives from both the public and private sectors, addressing the particular considerations and challenges in responding to HNS incidents in Turkey.
The event addressed gaps in capacity, and followed up on recommendations identified during a regional HNS response workshop (MEDEXPOL 2018) that REMPEC organized in Malta, in June 2018. The outcomes and recommendations from that event, such as the need to develop more specific response strategies and raise public awareness of the impact of spills, will be reported to IMO’s Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) when it next meets in February 2019.
The training course in Turkey was held under IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme and hosted by the Government of Turkey.