Authorities will simulate crash between two merchant ships
Portimão will host an oil spill clean-up simulation between Wednesday and Friday (April 17-19) entitled ‘ATLANTIC POLEX.PT 2024’.
Organised by the Sea Pollution Combat Board of the National Maritime Authority (AMN), the event will involve simulating a crash involving two merchant ships off Portimão port, “resulting in a fire, a hull breach with fuel oil spillage, as well as an injured person on board and a shipwrecked individual.”
In this scenario, authorities will test how they would respond if the spillage dispersed into “two large pollution patches drifting towards the port entrance, adjacent beaches, and essential areas for the local economy such as fishing grounds and various tourist activities.” The drill will see them simulating the arrival of one of the patches at Portimão port, affecting the nearby river beach, marina and the fauna and flora of the Arade River.
The exercise will also aim to “consolidate the integration of pollution combat resources from the National Maritime Authority with the Portuguese Navy, the Portuguese Air Force, and other national as well as international resources, including those from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and partners from the Lisbon Agreement (France, Spain, and Morocco).”
Citizens will be able to participate in a seminar focusing on the ‘Preservation of the Marina Environment’ on Thursday, April 18 at the Portimão Museum at 2.30pm, either in person or live on AMN’s social medial channels.
‘ATLANTIC POLEX.PT’ is an annual exercise in which authorities test their response to situations of maritime pollution at ports, marinas, and beaches as well as offshore.
