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Further strengthening the regional response to pollution incidents at sea, a three-day tabletop exercise is being organised in Seychelles for the western Indian Ocean, putting to test an existing regional contingency plan. Western Indian Ocean Pollution Regional Exercise (WIOPOLREX)’, the exercise is being organised jointly by the Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC) and the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC).
Further strengthening the regional response to pollution incidents at sea, a three-day tabletop exercise is being organised in Seychelles for the western Indian Ocean, putting to test an existing regional contingency plan. Western Indian Ocean Pollution Regional Exercise (WIOPOLREX)’, the exercise is being organised jointly by the Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC) and the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC) .
Through the exercise, the two regional centres will be able to assess preparedness to respond to oil pollution incidents in the region, similar to the incident on July 25, 2020, where MV WAKASHIO spilled approximately 1,000 metric tonnes of oil at sea, off the southeastern coast of Mauritius. The principal secretary for the environment, Denis Matatiken, stated that oil spills have no boundaries and no matter its scale, an oil spill can wreak havoc on the ecosystems, causing devastating impacts on the environment and disrupting the delicate balance of marine life.
Talking to the press, the director of the Seychelles-based RCOC, Sam Gonthier, outlined that the current contingency plan is an old one, a draft that has not been tested. RCOC will be testing the contingency plan and asked all countries including Seychelles, to take the plan that they must test it. All these countries have their plans but they have not tested them. Each country will be tested on how it will react to the event. There will also be an incident that will be too large for a country to deal with alone and as such will have to contact RCOC to coordinate a regional operation to help with the catastrophe.
The outcomes of the exercise will contribute to the implementation of the regional oil spill contingency plan, strengthen the regional coordination capacity of the RCOC, and update the RCOC’s standard operating procedures to deal with a large-scale pollution situation in its area of operation. It will also contribute to the implementation of national control plans of the member states of the MASE agreements.
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Regional countries – Comoros, Djibouti, France (Reunion, Mayotte) Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles – and partners will link together for the tabletop exercise. These countries, with the help of international partners, will work through simulated pollution events in the respective territories.
