Port accessToday some twenty people took part in the Port of Bilbao’s first mock marine pollution drill of the year, which was coordinated by the Port Authority. The drill took place in the surroundings of the River of Bilbao Maritime Museum where the Port’s Interior Maritime Plan for accidental marine pollution was successfully put to test with the coordination of the different agents involved, and in particular the response action to a scenario brought about by the accidental contamination of the River.
The drill began at 11.30 and lasted approximately one and a half hours. Craft belonging to the Port Authority and of the mooring and tug companies of the Port of Bilbao took part. One of the first and most important actions was the placing of a 400-metre long containment barrier. Later, other containment and hydrocarbon collection means were employed in the sea.
Bilbao is one of the ports in Europe, which has at its disposal more of its own means to face this type of emergency. For example, in order to combat marine pollution, the Port Authority, has four containers with different types of containment barriers, which together total 1,650 metres. To this
must be added the barriers belonging to industrial companies located in the Port of Bilbao like Petronor, Tepsa and Esergui, as well as those of the Port mooring and tug operating companies.
Furthermore, the Port of Bilbao, is the leader within the Spanish port system with regard to its capacity to respond to possible emergencies caused by hazardous goods.
