Marine pollution like major oil spills is catastrophic for marine environment including ports, harbours and EEZ thus requiring collective response by all stake holders. After the catastrophic incident of MV Tasman Spirit in Karachi in 2003, a need was strongly felt to formulate a comprehensive anti-pollution plan.
Subsequently, National Marine Disaster Contingency Plan (NMDCP) was prepared and promulgated by Government of Pakistan in 2007 with Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency in lead role. The National Marine Disaster Contingency Plan (NDMCP) laid down comprehensive organization and contingency plans to effectively deal with marine disasters at national level. The execution of NMDCP was ordered by chairman Pakistan Marine Disaster Management Board (PMDMB) which was headed by Chief of the Naval Staff.
A response committee is meant to coordinate the efforts to deal with the disaster from Disaster Response Centre (DRC) at HQ PMSA. This year Pakistan Maritime Security Agency has organized exercise BARRACUDA-VIII under the guidance of Pakistan Navy from 4-7 December 2017. The exercise is aimed at rehearsing the anti oil spill procedures and contingency mechanism. This marine oil spill exercise is being conducted in three phases. Phase-I was held yesterday at HQ PMSA which included opening brief, discussion and pre-operational checks for practical exercise.
Phase-II was conducted near Karachi harbour around 10 Nautical Miles. Deputy Director General PMSA Commodore Abdul Majid briefed the media about the objectives of exercise. Gear was laid practically by participating ships/boats of Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim Authority, BYCO Petroleum Pakistan and relevant stake holders. Various drills regarding oil spillage at sea were rehearsed.-PR