Emergency Teams in River Exercise (Port of London Authority/MVS London Unit)
A simulated explosion in a ship’s engine room put crews from the Port of London Authority, the emergency services, Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Maritime Volunteer Service to the test during an exercise on the River Thames last week.
The scenario centred on a fire aboard a Cobelfret ferry, downstream of the QEII Bridge on the Dartford side of the Thames. The vessel had fake casualties, was pretending to have trouble manoeuvring, and was suffering a mock fuel leak.
The Port of London Authority, Kent Fire Brigade, HM Coastguard, the RNLI, South East Coast Ambulance Service and Kent Police took part alongside vessel owners, Cobelfret; its manager, Maritime London member, Euroship Services; terminal operators CdMR; Svitzer Marine and the Maritime Volunteer Service.
The exercise crews were tasked with rescuing the casualties, tackling the fire, ensuring the safety of other vessels, and stemming the oil leak. Part of the exercise involved handling press inquires and and arranging for TV camera crews to cover the incident. “Journalists” and a TV camera man were taken afloat by the Maritime Volunteer Service on its launch Londinium 1, allowing the emergency response teams to get on with their work unhindered.
Port of London Authority chief harbour master, David Snelson, said: “Safety’s our top priority and we work hard to ensure incidents don’t happen in the first place. However, it’s important to be prepared for the worst, and that’s what this exercise was about. Today’s practice helped us identify ways of improving our game, so that we’re properly prepared should a real incident happen. It’s rare to have the opportunity to use a real ship for an exercise and, on behalf of everyone involved, we would like to thank Cobelfret for their involvement.”
Euroship Managing Director, Frank Davies, said: “Any incident on the Thames involves a number of emergency services, so it is really important for them to have the chance to practice working together. As a major customer of the Port, with more than 6,000 vessel movements on the river every year Cobelfret were happy to take part in the exercise.”