Getting ready

20160524_141837-2 The Irish Ferries’ cruise ferry Oscar Wilde will be our scene of operations during the MIRG-EX Full Scale Exercise. The “Oscar Wilde” normally sails between Rosslare in Ireland and a few ports in France. She will come to Zeebrugge especially for MIRG-EX in October this year. The ship measures a 166 meters, has ten decks and can carry over 1400 passengers and about 700 cars. It is the ideal setting for a MIRG willing to exercise in a complex situation: narrow passages, long distances and many passengers on board.

Representatives of the MIRG-EX project made a first visit to the ship. We are now fine tuning the exercise scenario in order to test both the skill of MIRGs and the communication lines between the ship’s crew, the national coordination centers on shore and the ERCC in Brussels.

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.