Maritime and Coastguard Agency completes training exercise off Cornish coast

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) recently completed a training exercise off the Cornish coast designed to make sure its teams are prepared and ready to respond to a major pollution incident in UK waters.

The exercise took place at sea south of Fowey in Cornwall on Sunday 10 October and on the morning of Monday 11 October. It involved HM Coastguard team members as well as the MCA’s contractor RVL Aviation which operates the MCA’s aerial oil dispersant spray system.

During the exercise, one of the MCA’s dedicated Boeing 737 aircraft carried out low altitude passes over a target marker buoy representing an oil slick.

The 737, assisted by another MCA plane which located the target buoy with its onboard sensors and provided safety overwatch to make sure that no other aircraft or vessels were in or near the 737’s flight path, used its onboard oil dispersant spray system to spray plume towards the target area.



For the purposes of the training activity, water was used in place of the chemical dispersants which would normally form part of the response to an actual oil spill at the coast.

Dispersants help to break down oil slicks into very small droplets and cause these small droplets to sink into the water column. This facilitates the process of biodegradation, with the increased surface area of each of these oil droplets enabling them to be quickly and easily degraded by the oil consuming microorganisms in the sea.

In-between each pass, the aircraft refuelled and refilled with water at Newquay Airport. An accompanying boat was also on hand to observe the exercise at sea level and to recover the marker buoy, helping to feedback with further information about the outcomes and key learnings of the exercise.



Claire Hughes, Director of HM Coastguard, said: “The MCA has a statutory requirement to respond to sources of pollution at sea and remains absolutely committed to protecting the coastal environment. The MCA and through its search and rescue arm, HM Coastguard, makes use of new technology at every opportunity to maximise the effectiveness of responses.

“Working with our contractors, this state-of-the-art oil dispersant system will enable us to respond to real life incidents rapidly through the use of highly effective dispersants that minimise the damage pollution can cause to our much-loved coastal communities.”

Will Crocker, Aviation Contracts Manager with the MCA who attended the exercise in the South West, said: “The training exercise was delivered safely and successfully in Cornwall and was a really effective and thorough way to test out the extensive attributes of each aircraft in a typical coastal setting.

“Being ready to respond to incidents, which can happen any time at the coast, is our key priority and we will continue to utilise training opportunities at this level so that we are prepared for all eventualities. Both the 737 and its support plane operate from East Midlands Airport, meaning our crews are ideally placed to respond to incidents anywhere along the UK coastline.”


Image credits: With thanks to Neil Chapman

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