Equipment Deployments on Sahara’s Edge

After completing a comprehensive assessment of the Zueitina Oil Company’s (ZOC) marine oil spill response capability and preparedness, The Oil Spill Training Company were invited back to conduct the first ever oil spill equipment training for more than thirty of their Marine Department personnel. ZOC is situated in the Mediterranean coast of Libya on the edge of the Sahara desert.

A packed seven day training programme had to be fitted around the terminal’s vessel movements and berthing activities. Once safety briefings and dry run equipment assembly exercises were successfully completed it was all hands on deck for on-water deployment action.

Richard Tatner guided the group thought the practicalities and intricacies of at-sea oil containment and recovery operations, towing booms at slow speed and in formation with another vessel. One of the vessel Captains later commented that this was the first time he had ever done anything like it before, “...it is more difficult than it looks, but now I feel better prepared.”