The program examines some of the vital information that responders to a chemical
spill will need in order to plan an effective response: Where has the incident
occurred? What are the implications of the various locations? What is the current
state of tide and wind? What is the chemical? How much has been spilt? What hazard
does it represent? Each International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG)
hazard class is examined.
The program concludes with a detailed examination of the incident involving the
vessel ‘Anna Broere’. She was a small chemical tanker carrying acrylonitrile. She
sank in shallow water in the North Sea after having been in a collision. The methods
used and the issues raised are fully discussed.
This program commences with the classification of the thousands of commonly
transported chemicals by their physical properties. On contact with the water does
the substance sink, dissolve, float, evaporate or react? How this influences the
behaviour and spread of the hazard in the environment is examined with the aid of
three-dimensional graphic diagrams. The program continues with the examination
of the ‘Ariadne’ incident. This vessel, a 16,000 ton container ship, sank in the harbour
mouth of Mogadishu in Somalia. She had on board a wide variety of dangerous
cargoes and represented a grave threat to the town. The successful response is
described and the issues raised are discussed.
The major part of this program deals with the response exercise carried out in
Canada. A steel drum has been washed up on a beach in a public park. We follow in
great detail the response operation in coping with this, perhaps the simplest
possible maritime chemical spill incident. The drum has indistinct labelling, it is
clear that it once contained dangerous material, but it is unclear whether it still
does. The response team adopt a worst-possible-case response and proceed as if
the drum does represent a threat. The programme evaluates the procedures used
by the responders in this incident and discusses all the issues involved.
This program deals with the various options available to responders. These are
largely determined by the physical property of the hazardous material. This
important classification was considered at length in program two in the series. This
program starts with an overview of the response approach; there are three basic
approaches.
Observe, monitor and notify. The so-called ‘do nothing’ approach. In reality it
means doing a great deal as a thorough monitoring operation includes a
programme of taking air, water, marine life and sediment samples, analyzing
them and deducing the likely environmental concentrations and hence the hazard
that they represent
Secure the cargo, either on the ship or wharf by various methods such as sealing
the container or pumping the cargo to an undamaged drum or tank
Act on the chemical once it is in the environment, either by recovering packaged
goods before the packaging has ruptured or by the use of absorbants or
neutralising agents
In this program three more case histories of actual responses are examined.
PART 4 - CONTINGENCY PLANNING, OPERATIONS AND TRAINING
Code No 409
Time: 24 Mins
The final program in the series begins with another case history. [MV Cason] The
major part of the program consists of a detailed response exercise in which a ship
reports a leak in a tank container. The chemical concerned is titanium tetrachloride
(UN No1838). Every aspect of the response is dealt with. It is based on a sound and
well exercised contingency plan. We follow the response commander and his team
through all stages of the response. Among the issues dealt with are the following:
The importance of the contingency plan
The importance of having good communications and a well understood chain of
command
The requirement for all interested parties to be represented in the response
organisation
The establishing of a response centre or incident room
The necessity of the response team to be able to deal with a wide range of
governmental and non-governmental organisations
The role of training in establishing an effective response organisation
The priorities of the response team - the first being their own safety
Code No 406
Time: 23 Mins
Time: 24 Mins