Indian Coast Guard District Headquarters No. 1, Porbandar conducted a pollution response seminar and mock drill on February 23 and 24 2022 in accordance with the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP). The Indian Coast Guard is the Central Coordinating Agency (CCA) in charge of combating oil spills in Indian waters. The aim behind the seminar/workshop and mock drill were to re-validate the response mechanism for oil pollution incidents and to enable the Indian Coast Guard to fine-tune the National and Regional Oil Spill Disaster Response Plan.
District Headquarters No. 1 (Gujarat) Porbandar Commander DIG SK Verghese inaugurated the workshop. Representatives from GMB, Bhavnagar Port, minor ports in the area, and petrochemical industry officials attended the event. The workshop involved tabletop exercises simulating oil spills and demonstrations of oil spill equipment onboard ICGS Samudra Pavak, an Indian Coast Guard vessel that is specialized in pollution control.
This type of training is conducted by the Indian Coast Guard to ensure interoperability among various stakeholders in marine pollution response and to assess preparedness to deal with oil spills.
