Eight tons of diesel spilled into the Ria Formosa after the violent collision between a ship and the commercial pier in Faro – this was the scenario simulated by the Southern Maritime Authority, this Wednesday morning, in an exercise that served to test the response capacity of the Intervention teams of the Southern Maritime Department and the Captaincy of the Port of Faro to such an incident to prevent the spillage of fuel.
According to Marques Ferreira, Commander of the Southern Maritime Authority, the exercise, which involved around fifty men, was “of an ordinary nature. There are usually two or three a year», and in 2012 another simulation of this kind will be held in the Algarve.
If the operation to combat pollution carried out this Wednesday was nothing more than a created scenario, in the last three years it was necessary to activate these means to resolve accidents in Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António, which is why it is important to test the capacity to respond to incidents of this kind.
“In the three years since I assumed this position, there have been three minor accidents. Two fishing boats that sank in Vila Real de Santo António and a fire in the port of Olhão», explained Marques Ferreira to Sul Informação.
Among the various entities invited to participate in the exercise – National Civil Protection Authority, Institute for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity, Southern Classified Area Management Department – Ria Formosa Natural Park, IPTM, Municipal Council of Faro, Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences at Ualg and Sociedade Farense das Areias (Sofaeia) – Marques Ferreira highlighted the collaboration of the University of Algarve which, according to the official, is to maintain.
«This exercise had the particularity of having had the presence of a researcher from UAlg who traced the path of “scattering” if the containment had not been successful. This collaboration is to continue, as UALG has the means to simulate the spread of hydrocarbons, which is useful in these cases», he explained.
The 50 men who participated in the exercise are based in the Algarve and only in a spill of large proportions would it be necessary to resort to means located in Lisbon.
«When the spill is at a local or regional level, there are ways to respond to pollution in the Algarve, only when it reaches level 4 is it necessary to go to Lisbon. In addition, the Mar Limpo Plan provides that the Commander of the Maritime Authority may have all the means available in the region, whether at the level of municipalities, IPTM, etc.», concluded Marques Ferreira.
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