Major oil spill Exercise – Gold Coast and Tweed

On 29-30 October, a major marine pollution Exercise, Exercise Dumaresq, will take place this year along the Gold Coast, QLD, and Tweed coast, NSW.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), Transport for NSW (TfNSW), and Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) will conduct this annual National Plan for Maritime Environment Emergencies 2020 (National Plan) Exercise.

The National Plan has been operating since 1973 and outlines the national strategy for managing maritime environmental crises. This plan fosters a collaborative approach between government and industry, crucial for efficient incident response.

Exercise Dumaresq will simulate an oil spill from a ship with the ‘spill’ drifting in an westerly direction on to beaches and into waterways along the coast, impacting coastal environments.

The Exercise will focus on cross-border response to manage a simulated Level 3 marine pollution incident, an incident that requires senior government and industry involvement. It will involve Incident Management Teams and the deployment of field response teams, including shoreline, marine, wildlife, and Hazardous Noxious Substance (HNS) units.

AMSA Executive Director Response, Mark Morrow, said these exercises are critical to ensure all jurisdictions are well prepared in the event of a major marine pollution incident.

“These types of major incidents are uncommon in Australia, however the consequences can be catastrophic, so joint operations like Exercise Dumaresq provide an important opportunity to practice the response needed and to work collaboratively with all relevant agencies,” Mr Morrow said.

MSQ General Manager, Kell Dillon added, Exercise Dumaresq will see government personnel from various agencies activating and testing their marine pollution response arrangements to make sure they are ready for the real thing.

“Through the exercise alongside our Federal and NSW colleagues, Maritime Safety Queensland will be working to ensure our pollution response arrangements are coordinated, robust and fit for purpose.”

NSW State Marine Pollution Controller and NSW Maritime Executive Director Mark Hutchings said this is a great opportunity to showcase the incident response capabilities and readiness of our marine agencies.

“During Exercise Dumaresq NSW Maritime will have vessels on the water, drones in the sky, and specialised staff on the ground coordinating the operation.

“We’ll also be live streaming the exercise in real-time from our incident response vessel on site to our North Incident Coordination Centre in Coffs Harbour to help share information across all agencies involved,” Mr Hutchings said.

Observers may see more marine traffic than usual in the area with about 250 participants expected to be involved in the exercise. Responders dressed in protective clothing will be working at various beach locations and the public are asked not to approach participants.

Locations will include:

NSW:

• Faulks Park, Marine Parade, Kingscliff NSW.
• Jack Bayliss Park (northern), Marine Parade Kingscliff NSW.
• Family Park, adjacent Fingal Rovers Surf Life Saving Club, Prince Street, Fingal Head NSW

QLD:

• Currumbin Creek.
• Winders Park, Currumbin.
• Roughton Park, Coolangatta.

More information about Exercise Dumaresq can be found here: Exercise Dumaresq frequently asked questions