An exercise to simulate an incident involving an oil spill off the Isle of Wight is set to take place this week.
Southampton-based Oil Spill Response is to test its response equipment and instruct its staff and other agencies on the best ways of dealing with such an incident.
A number of specialist vessels alongside a Boeing 727 aircraft will be visible at sea, with a dedicated surveillance aircraft also in the air above the ‘incident’. The Boeing, which is adapted with internal tanks and spraying equipment, will fly at a low level and deposit a small amount of harmless dye into the water to simulate the spill.
The response vessels will then undertake training sessions and practice deploying other equipment which would be used to contain any future spill. Aircraft will spray water over the areas in question to simulate the application of oil dispersants.
Commenting on the exercise, Rob James, Regional Director EMEA, said:
“As the world’s largest dedicated oil spill response organisation, we constantly need to be training our teams and validating current good-practice methodologies. Exercises like these are complex and challenging to perform, but they are also essential to ensuring we’re best able to protect the marine environment should an incident occur.
“For local residents, you can be assured that no oil or dispersants are being used, and there is absolutely no risk to the coastline or local marine life.”
There is no risk to marine life or the coastline during the exercise.
It would be good to know when and where this is to take place, in order to allay any residents [who may not have seen this] fears over this.
They did this just a few years ago up by the Needles, so why is it necessary to do it again?
No risk from water and dyes during the exercise. However, if it happens for real, the actual oil dispersants used are the equivalent of the most highly concentrated, industrial, washing-up liquid you could ever imagine. It makes the beach look pretty again, but is proven to kill almost as much marine life as the original oil spill.