Largest Ever Oil Response Exercise Was a Success 

 

 
HELCOM makes possible the immediate assistance from neighbouring countries should the worst happen and a large-scale oil spill occurs in the Baltic Sea. All the Baltic coastal states - being members of HELCOM - have committed to cooperation, which is rehearsed each year in the Balex Delta exercise.

 

The Balex Delta oil spill response exercise was held at the end of August 2012 in Helsinki, Finland.The drill was larger than ever before and included 18 oil pollution response vessels, more than 50 other vessels and over 500 people from several countries. The Finnish Environment Institute SYKE coordinated the exercise.

 

HELCOM Newsletter asked for brief reflections on the successful drill from  Kalervo Jolma, Senior Engineer from SYKE, who was the Response Commander of the exercise, and Magnus Nyström from the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, a member of the Balex Evaluation Team and the HELCOM RESPONSE Group.

Exercise brings excellence

 

"The main benefit from international exercises such as Balex Delta is that the responsible authorities and stakeholders from different countries around the Baltic Sea get more used to joint cooperation,” says Magnus Nyström, when asked about the main benefits of the exercise. “It is much easier in a real emergency situation to contact your colleagues in other countries if you have worked with them under less stressful conditions, as in an exercise, and can consider them as almost your personal friends.”

 

Kalervo Jolma holds a similar view: “Through these exercises, we can become excellent in handling trivial issues. This helps us to concentrate on the big decisions during an actual oil catastrophe.”

 

“Of course, another important benefit is that you may identify critical gaps in your equipment, routines and training. Through this, your preparedness for real spill response situations also improves,” adds Nyström.

 

Highlights of the year

 

Because the exercise has been organized since 1989, and a few stakeholders have been on board for a while, it would be nice to hear of any particularities from Balex Delta 2012.

 

Jolma explains what was achieved during the three-day exercise: “The whole response chain was tested - from the first alert all the way to the shoreline clean up and wildlife care. This was unique during this year’s massive operation, since normally only separate parts of the whole response chain are exercised.

 

"Secondly, I would like to highlight the testing of the national GIS-based situational awareness system, BORIS2. This was the first time that all the response authorities were able to follow and update one single, shared picture of the situation. As a Response Commander, I was privileged to witness all these elements during the whole operation. It was gratifying to see the high level of good and professional cooperation.”

 

Nyström has an unexpected highlight to share: “One thing I will remember from this exercise is the surprise which our Danish colleagues arranged for us. As an extraordinary exercise they informed the Supreme On-Scene Commander (SOSC) that a man had fallen overboard and had swallowed some oil. A rescue vessel was immediately alerted and the poor man was saved. This extra practice demonstrated our professional ability to react to unforeseen events under all circumstances.”

 

 

Key advantages and challenges

 

A major advantage of Balex Delta is clearly seen by Jolma: “It is the appropriate forum to handle real situations with united efforts, giving us capabilities that none of us can have alone.”

 

It might be said that more challenges equate to more learning opportunities and the possibilities to perform even better. When asked, Nyström points out that “The different cultures and languages of all the countries around the Baltic Sea may certainly cause some challenges. However, in the event of a real disaster no country has enough resources to eliminate the environmental damage single-handed. In the sixties, the Beatles sang a song called ‘With a little help from my friends’. This is also the case in actual emergency situations. Nobody can deal with a major spill alone, but fortunately in this region - we do not have to!”