Oil spill exercise at Naval Base

The King’s Harbour Master staff and two members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, along with a team from Mitie, conducted an oil spill exercise in Admiralty Waters last week.

The vessel Med Star, on the South Mole, was used to conduct the exercise, with 250 metres of the newly procured floating boom used to completely surround the vessel.

For the exercise’s purposes, the vessel had ruptured a hose while taking fuel.

Once the boom was in place, extraction equipment simulated the removal of oil from the surface.

As well as setting the equipment to work for the first time under the guidance of the Briggs Marine instructors, all attendees gained the MCA level 2 certificate as the exercise was incorporated in a two-day course which also included a theory element.

“Even with strong wind conditions this exercise demonstrated that the new equipment would help to protect the Naval base waters,” HQ British Forces Gibraltar said in a statement.

“Exercises are conducted to ensure staff are familiar with the operation and deployment of the equipment and to ensure the port is compliant with marine safety codes.”