GUARDEX 2012

October 2, the GUARDEX 2012 exercise was held. This execise was developed to simulate dealing with a marine emergency occurring in the London Array area. The exercise was multi-agency and multi-national with bodies from France, Belgium, Denmark and Finland. GUARDEX 2012 fell to the responsibility of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, specifically HM Coastguard.

In the scenario, a small cruise liner (THV Patricia) transiting close to the London Array wind farm was in collision with an accommodation ship (Wind Ambition), which was at anchor off the wind farm. This results was a fire on board both vessels. The Patricia lost power and collided with some wind turbines. Some passengers and crew from the cruise liner were missing presumed overboard and there were some casualties on board the accommodation ship. A number of engineers working on the wind turbines had sustained injuries and were evacuated by helicopter and lifeboat as appropriate.

MIRG EX is an international joint partnership. Safety Region Zeeland (NL), which brings together crisis management, fire fighters and medical assistance, is lead partner. The other partners in the project are: the Fire Brigades of Antwerp, Beveren and Ghent (BE). These brigades are linked to important international ports, that accommodate large chemical production plants. Being able to effectively fight fires on board ships is simply essential. In addition to the fire brigades, the Federal Organisation of Public Civil Assistance in Brugge, the Agency for Maritime and Coastal Services-Shipping Assistance Division and the Maatschappij van de Brugse Zeehaven nv (Zeebrugge Port Authority) are partners in the MIRG-EX project. The French Service départemental d’incendie et de secours de Pas-de-Calais and the English Kent Fire and Rescue Service complete the partnership. Both are confronted with heavy traffic on the Channel and the North Sea. An incident may be just around the corner, but this doesn’t mean it can be easily reached let alone be dealt with. Working with similar teams on both shores, reduces will help to reduce response time.