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Safe Seas 2006 Emergency Response Exercise

08/02/2006 - Safe Seas Safety Zone Bulletin (pdf)

SS2006 is a multi-agency effort lead by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) in collaboration with U.S. Coast Guard, California Office of Spill Prevention and Response, Harley Marine Services, and the Department of Interior. More than 250 people will participate in training, field operations, oceanographic surveys, and incident command post activities. Vessels and aircraft from NOAA, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Air Force Reserve, Marine Spill Response Corporation, Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, and Bodega Marine Laboratory are expected to participate in the exercise. Additionally, the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System will activate the new surface current mapping radar in support of exercise data requirements.

The Safe Seas 2006 exercise will build on the successful Safe Sanctuaries 2005 exercise held in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, as well as agency-wide experience in response to the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.


The SS2006 exercise design will focus on a simulated marine collision occurring about 17 nm from Golden Gate in central California. Click here for larger version.

Proposed Scenario

The SS2006 exercise design focuses on the marine collision of a bulk freight cargo ship M/V Blue Harp inbound to San Francisco from Long Beach, with the outbound tug Earnest Campbell, towing the tank barge Dottie, en route to Los Angeles. The barge sinks from the collision, with oil spilling from both the barge and damaged cargo ship. As a result of the collision, Dottie releases oil and the Blue Harp threatens to release its fuel due to sustained damage.

The pollutants spilled during this exercise will be simulated by the release of hundreds of drift cards, which are designed to model floating pollutants at the site of the hypothetical collision and sinking. Using this scenario, the Safe Seas 2006 exercise will bring together federal, state, and local responders in order to increase response readiness to a large oil spill in a National Marine Sanctuary in central California.

Activities Timeline

DateActivityLocation
10 JulyIncident Command System (ICS) TrainingLower Fort Mason, San Francisco
11 JulyICS Training / Table Top ExerciseLower Fort Mason, San Francisco
12 JulyFunctional ExerciseLower Fort Mason, San Francisco
7 AugustShort Courses / Technology DemonstrationLower Fort Mason, San Francisco
8 AugustShort CoursesLower Fort Mason, San Francisco
9-10 AugustFull Scale ExerciseMission Bay Conference Center, San Francisco

Short Course Schedule and Registation Info (pdf)

Incident News contains information provided and approved by the Unified Command for specific spill incidents. The Unified Command is the group responsible for conducting response operations at the scene of an incident. It is usually comprised of the U.S. Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator, the State On-Scene Coordinator, and a representative of the responsible party. Information is posted on the site as it becomes available.

Contact Information

Lisa Symons
Damage Assessment and Resource Protection Coordinator
National Marine Sanctuary Program
E-mail:lisa.symons@noaa.gov
Phone: (301) 713-7275

Amy Holman
Program Coordinator
NOAA/NOS/Office of Response & Restoration
NOAA Emergency Response Program
E-mail: amy.holman@noaa.gov
Phone: 301-713-2989 x 102


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