TOKYO - Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) (President: Kunio Suzuki) today announced that the company's Liner Division has successfully completed its second marine casualty response drill involving personnel in Tokyo, Concord (California, USA), London, Rotterdam, Singapore and Hong Kong, along with various third parties. The exercise demanded a real-time response to accident scenarios, and required specific, coordinated efforts by personnel throughout the world's largest multi-mode liner service.
MOL has traditionally conducted annual oil spill response drills for its global tanker operations. However, with the deployment of larger and faster containerships, MOL has extended its drills to include the Liner Division.
The primary goal of this drill was to demonstrate and test the effectiveness of MOL's emergency response plan in the event of an incident resulting in environmental pollution. The drill simulated two scenarios. The first assumed a collision between a MOL-chartered containership and another vessel in a busy port area near San Francisco resulting in severe damage to the MOL-chartered vessel's hull. The second scenario envisioned a MOL-owned containership running aground in the Singapore Straits, resulting in an oil spill.
These simulations enabled the response team members in MOL to realize what is expected of them and fine-tune their response.
Protection of the marine and global environment is one of MOL's key corporate objectives. Recognizing the potential damage associated with a marine accident, the company has allotted substantial resources to develop effective prevention and response programs.
For further information, please contact: Takaaki Inoue, Group Leader, Supervising Group,Ship Management Division, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Tel: +81-3-3587-7307, Fax: +81-3-3587-7716, E-mail: svgmo@mail.mol.co.jp