Any state with offshore oil interests needs to be ready to respond to an oil spill. With this in mind, an IMO workshop (2-5 October) in Cartagena, has covered how to assess, identify and acquire oil spill response equipment. A simulated table-top exercise provided hands-on practical experience in how an incident might play out. Participants also gained knowledge in how to develop and implement national and regional exercise programmes. Lessons learned from the exercise and workshop may be incorporated into future revisions of the Wider Caribbean Island and Central American Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation Plans.
The workshop was conducted by the Regional Marine Pollution, Emergency, Information and Training Center - Wide Caribbean Region (RAC/REMPEITC-Caribe) and attended by representatives from The Bahamas, Barbados, Colombia, Cuba, Curacao, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. It was hosted by the Colombian Maritime Authority (SIMAR) and support including course materials and equipment demonstration was provided by representatives from: Oil Spill Response Limited; Shell Exploration and Production Co.; Exxon Mobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc; T&T Salvage; LAMOR Corporation AB; VARICHEM de Colombia G.E.P.S.; and RAC/REMPEITC-Caribe.