An oil spill response drill was held on July 7 in the Cai Tau River in the Mekong Delta by the Ca Mau Fertiliser Plant and Ca Mau Power Plant 1 and 2 in Khanh An commune, U Minh district in Ca Mau province.

The scenario enacted the collision of two ferries in the Ca Mau Fertiliser Plant’s port, causing 500 litres of oil to spill from the tank which then spread to the surrounding area, flowing from the Ong Doc River to the Trem and Cau Tau rivers and covering the surface of the Cai Tau River in the northwest and northeast direction.

Along with sounding the alarm in various forms, a steering committee for responding to the disaster mobilised manpower and equipment to deal with the incident in eight planned steps.

As many as 30 people and a number of specialised equipment, including a fire truck, an ambulance, canoes, buoys and a skimmer system were involved in the drill. The buoys were deployed to the river to control the oil flow before the skimmer system absorbed the oil.

The drill aimed to ensure staff and workers at the plants understand how to cope with such an incident as well as the need to coordinate with other forces to stand ready for potential disasters and minimise environmental impacts.-VNA