U.S., Coalition Forces Conduct 'Tabletop' Exercise Aboard Ocean 6
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS070604-12
Release Date: 6/4/2007 12:51:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Bobby Northnagle, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs
OCEAN 6, At Sea (NNS) -- Representatives from Combined Task Force (CTF) 59, CTF 158, commander Navy Region Southwest Asia and Iraq’s Southern Oil Company (SOC) met to solve a mock oil spill scenario aboard forward staging base Ocean 6 in the North Persian Gulf May 29.
The goal of the exercise was to practice decision making in the situation where there is an incident on the Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT) or Al Basra Oil Terminal (ABOT) resulting in an explosion, fire or oil spill.
The plan is to follow up the “tabletop” discussion with an operational exercise to refine the current standard operating procedure to be followed by coalition members.
“The exercise provided an invaluable learning opportunity to all participants in understanding the peculiarities of oil spill response activities, specifically in resources available, spill management team decision making and overall cooperation between the U.S., Coalition forces and regional nations,” said Awni Almasri, regional environmental coordinator of commander, Navy Region Southwest Asia.
The participants were given the scenario along with periodic updates, while they worked in two separate groups to assess the situation and make decisions based on the safety of personnel and infrastructure, environmental impact, and the ability to continue with the mission of performing maritime operations in the Northern Persian Gulf.
Maritime operations help set the conditions for security and stability in the maritime environment and complement the counter-terrorism and security efforts in regional nations’ littoral waters. Coalition forces also conduct maritime operations under international maritime conventions to ensure security and safety in international waters so that commercial shipping and fishing can occur safely in the region.
“[In the event of an incident], security must continue to protect and prevent further damage to remaining assets,” said Royal Navy Capt. Ed Algles, military training officer for Iraqi marines.
While the importance of swiftly and efficiently combating an incident to the oil platforms is financially significant, as both platforms account for 90 percent of Iraq’s gross domestic product, the environmental ramifications can also be detrimental to financial stability in the region.
“In this region, the host nations rely on the waters for fishing and desalination for fresh water production,” said Cmdr. Daniel Henderson, CTF 59’s assistant chief of staff for material and logistics. “An oil spill would seriously alter the economic process.”
CTF 59 is the oil spill and waste management command for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, and CTF 158 is in charge of operations in the NAG.
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