The Base’s Queen’s Harbour Master (QHM) organisation worked alongside colleagues from Serco Marine Services, who provided the equipment on the day.
Around 200 metres of boom was deployed manually during the exercise, in response to the scenario of an oil spill from a jetty. Anchored to a strong-point, the boom was used to contain the simulated spill while a ‘butterfly skimmer’ – used to divert or skim oil from the sea surface – was brought into play.
During the exercise, all equipment was functionally tested to prove that it could be used for real and was ready for operations.
The exercise, which is part of an ongoing training programme to maintain readiness, also proved excellent familiarisation training for QHM’s department and Serco Marine Services.
Queen’s Harbour Master for HM Naval Base Clyde, Commander David Lightfoot , said: “The Naval Base takes its environmental responsibilities extremely seriously and part of that is regularly exercising our response to a variety of scenarios.
“The oil spill exercise was a complete success and provided an opportunity to, not only test our response, but to prove that the team can work together very effectively when called into action.”
[mappress] Naval Today Staff , June 12, 2012; Image: Royal Navy