SA prepared to deal with coastal oil spills

ON MARCH 24, 1989, the serenity of Alaska’s Prince William Sound was shattered when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker, spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil.

Oil spills are complex and dealing with them often requires multinational co-operation, as well as industry, civic, and inter-governmental co-operation across all spheres. It can take weeks or months to stop the spill and initiate a clean-up. The effects can last for years.

South Africa has almost 3 000km of coastline and our oceans’ economy drives tourism, provides jobs and ensures a massive boost to the economy.

Operation Phakisa, which was introduced in 2014, is focused on unlocking the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans, which could contribute up to R177 billion to our GDP by 2033 and between 800 000 and 1 million direct jobs.

An oil spill or any marine disaster along our coast would cause massive damage to our economy and jobs.

Recently a team from the government, industry and civil society met to simulate such a scenario during the 4th Joint Industry Government National Oil Spill Response Exercise, which took place virtually on March 17.

Having an intensive exercise of this nature virtually and over only one day posed a unique set of challenges.

However, Covid-19 has in many ways changed our way of life and an actual incident in our waters would have to be tackled through a hybrid virtual and operational approach.

Handling any crisis of this nature requires that the appropriate resources and stakeholders are mobilised quickly – and important and timeous decisions are made.

The South African Interim Incident Management Organisation (Imorg), under the Department of Transport, plays a critical role in co-ordinating preparedness and response, utilising the internationally recognised Incident Management System, which was introduced locally in 2015.

As part of this approach regular oil spill exercises are undertaken and managed by the Interim Imorg, which brings together representatives from the government, maritime safety organisations, industry and civil society.

Each exercise scenario is carefully created to ensure that response systems and processes are tested and accountable stakeholders are involved.

The 4th Exercise focused on the Incident Command and planning function following an “oil spill incident” on Bird Island on the West Coast.

The intensity of this exercise was brought to bear as the teams had to co-ordinate a response virtually, while still ensuring it was a targeted and appropriate one. The 4th Exercise really brought home the reality of the new normal, and highlighted how complex it would be to handle many aspects of an oil spill or marine disaster remotely.

What the exercise accentuated is that it takes a massive co-ordinated effort to ensure that the environment is protected following a marine pollution incident.

While challenges were experienced, the overall objectives were met and the participants ended the exercise confident that South Africa is in a good space as a country to respond to an incident of this nature.

Our oceans are the lifeblood of many local communities and the oceans’ economy is key to powering our recovery.

Protecting this resource is key. The South African Interim Incident Management Organisation is our shield that will continue to do so.