Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Coast Guard carries out anti-spillage operation

Safety measures: Coast Guard officials placing an inflated boom to contain ‘oil spillage’ on Thursday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: Booms were spread in mid-sea after inflating them with a compressor and later with the help of skimmers – a specially made mechanical device – the `oily water’ was recovered from the sea surface.

As part of an exercise that lasted over three hours from on-board Indian Coast Guard Ship Sagar, an advance offshore patrol vessel, the Pollution Response Team of Coast Guards displayed its preparedness in carrying out anti-spillage operation by simulating off Vizag Coast on Thursday.

Dispersal method – the chemical means of dealing with an oil spill was demonstrated. Use of dispersant is considered the last resort due to its environmental effect. “We were fully geared to combat a tier-II oil spillage,” said DIG K.P.S. Raghuvanshi, Commanding Officer of ICGS Sagar.

If the amount of oil that spills into the ocean is above 600 tonnes, it is called tier-II spill.

The Coast Guard, which took part in tackling spillage as fallout of Iraq war, extended help through ICGS Veera and Vikram to Sri Lanka in 2006 and the spillage off Mumbai High in 1984-85, is also equipped with in situ burning – a technology that ignites and sustains combustion of oil spills on the water and along the shorelines.

In situ burning is the most promising technique for removing large amounts of oil from water surface as encountered during major and catastrophic spills.

During Thursday’s exercise, which was part of three-day seminar-cum-workshop for various resource agencies and stakeholders in the marine environment, the inflatable booms were built like a wall in J-shape with the help of Inshore Patrol Vessel Chandibibi and Fast Patrol Vessel Priyadarshini.

“We used inflatable booms to contain the spill, oil spill dispersants for dispersion of spilt oil and skimmers for collection of pollutants,” said S. Soni, Coast Guard Pollution Response Officer.

He said the operation went off as per their planning and the adverse wind position notwithstanding, they could achieve 85 per cent success in conducting the exercise.

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