“It all came together when everyone wanted to do a drill to test their response equipment here in the Saipan area,” said Lt. John Peterson of the U.S. Coast Guard.
He said the exercise is part of the annual requirement of the Coast Guard.
The main objective of this drill was for port partners to practice deployment procedures, test response capabilities, and ensure that their equipment was in suitable condition, he added.
The drill scenario on Thursday involved a discharge of 500 gallons of “diesel” poured into the sea.
The drill started at 1:31 p.m. and the notification went out at 1:40 p.m.
The drill was finished in 45 minutes.
“We wanted to do the drill with the different companies to kind of get all of our gear out in time and practice working together. I think it went really well,” said U.S. Coast Guard Lt Stacey Crecy.
The participants were the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Saipan, Sector Guam and Fourteenth District, Honolulu, Hawaii; Mobil; Saipan Marine Corporation; South Pacific Environmental; Saipan Crewboats; the Commonwealth Ports Authority; Saipan Stevedores; the Division of Environmental Quality; the Emergency Management Office; the fire division; the Coastal Resources Management Office; and CNMI Homeland Security.
“We’ve got these beautiful pristine waters and we want to keep it clean. We have the equipment for this kind of situation. We want to stand up and be responsible if we had oil or fuel in the water. We can respond on our own and of course notify all the agencies,” said Jason Shankweiler, manager of Saipan Marine Corporation and Saipan Crewboats.
