HELCOM fleet rehearses oil spill response off the Swedish coast

Karlskrona, Sweden, 1 September (HELCOM) – A total of 19 ships and smaller vessels from the Baltic Sea countries participated in HELCOM´s annual pollution response exercise BALEX DELTA 2005, held off Karlskrona, Sweden, on 31st August.

The main aim of the exercise was to test the Baltic Sea countries' readiness to respond to a major oil accident at sea, particularly with regard to response capability and co-operation between response units from different countries.

“The exercise went very smoothly,” said Thomas Fagö, Chairman of the HELCOM Response Group. “All objectives were achieved”. “This exercise is invaluable for maintaining our readiness to effectively respond to a major oil spill in the Baltic Sea. It gives us an opportunity to test common procedures for how to acquire assistance in case of a major oil spill, communicate and work together under one command during a response operation at the scene of an accident,” noted Thomas Fagö.

BALEX DELTA 2005 was organized by the Swedish Coast Guard Headquarters and its Regional South Command. Response vessels from 7 Baltic Sea countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden) participated in this year's exercise.

The exercise involved a scenario where a ferry collided with an oil tanker carrying a cargo of around 70,000 tons of heavy fuel oil south of Karlskrona. In addition to its cargo, the oil tanker was also carrying 6,000 tons of heavy fuel oil and 150 tons of marine diesel oil as bunker. After the collision the oil tanker had supposedly leaked around 10,000 tons of cargo drifting towards Sweden’s coastline. Units from Sweden and other HELCOM countries were tasked to jointly prevent the oil slick reaching the shore. To simulate an oil spill popcorn was used.

BALEX DELTA operational response exercises have been held annually since 1990. Over this period HELCOM has steadily improved the readiness of the countries around the Baltic to jointly respond to an oil spill at sea. The HELCOM countries have more than 30 response vessels on standby located around the Baltic Sea so that they are able to reach any place in the Baltic Sea within 6 to 48 hours.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Thomas Fagö
Chairman of HELCOM RESPONSE
Tel: +46 (455) 353455
E-mail: thomas.fago@coastguard.se 

Mr. Tadas Navickas
Professional Secretary
Tel: +358 9 62202242
Fax: +358 9 62202239

E-mail:  tadas.navickas@helcom.fi

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov
Information Secretary
Tel: +358 9 62202235
Fax: +358 9 6220 2239

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi