OIL SPILL PREPAREDNESS IN THE PACIFIC REGION DISCUSSED AT WEEK LONG WORKSHOP

Marine oil spill responders from throughout the Pacific have completed a 5-day workshop in Auckland, New Zealand aimed at facilitating improved marine spill planning, preparedness and response within the pacific islands region.

Auckland, New Zealand -- Marine oil spill responders from throughout the Pacific have completed a 5-day workshop in Auckland aimed at facilitating improved marine spill planning, preparedness and response within the pacific islands region.

The workshop was jointly run by the Maritime Safety Authority of New Zealand (MSANZ) and the South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) based in Apia, Samoa and was the fourth in a series of biannual exercises with previous workshops being held in Fiji, Samoa and French Polynesia.

Workshop participants discussed advancements in oil spill detection and monitoring, emergency response planning, legal framework for protecting marine environments, evidence collection and prosecution, and other marine environmental protection issues. As part of the workshop participants toured the National Oil Spill Centre at Te Atatu, Auckland and also participated in a one day on-water oil spill equipment deployment exercise with the Auckland Regional Council and MSANZ.

Workshop coordinator Sefa Nawadra, Marine Pollution Adviser at SPREP, says the workshop had two major objectives. The first objective was to learn from New Zealands advanced experience in marine spill planning and response because of the many similarities to pacific island countries in the type of oil and nature of shipping.

Hosting the workshop in New Zealand provided participants with an overview of what needs to be done to improve oil spill preparedness in their countries, Nawadra said. For many it was the first opportunity to handle oil spill equipment and participate in oil spill response exercises."

The second objective was to provide a forum where oil spill responders could share experiences, lessons learnt and facilitate networking with colleagues throughout the region.

New Zealands National Oil Spill Commander John Lee Richards was pleased at the outcomes of the Workshop and was glad that New Zealand has been able to continue to assist pacific island countries to improve their marine spill response capabilities.

New Zealand not only as a member of SPREP, but also as a party to the OPRC Convention and the Pacific Islands Regional Marine Spill Plan (PACPLAN,) is committed to providing assistance to the extent that it is capable, said Richards.    

Funding for the workshop was a cooperative effort between the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID), the Canada -South Pacific Ocean Development (C-SPOD) program and the International Maritime Organization.

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For more information contact:

Sefa Nawadra, SPREP: sefanaian@sprep.org.ws

Gloria Williams, C-SPOD: c-spodp@shaw.ca