The Swedish Club has announced that it and Stena Line have completed a major Emergency Response Training Exercise that was designed to test how Stena’s own comprehensive emergency procedures would integrate with those of the authorities and support services in the event of a major incident.
The round table exercise took place last week at the Swedish Sea Rescue Society headquarters, with more than 60 expert contributors participating.
The drill, jointly planned and conducted by Swedish Club and the Swedish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC), tested the levels of cooperation required between the resources and authorities that would be at the centre of a mass evacuation from a passenger ferry in the Gothenburg area.
The Stena Line team was headed by Bjarne Koitrand, Technical Operations Director, Jörgen Lorén, Director and Senior Master, and Jesper Waltersson, Press and Media Relations Manager.
The participants included DNV GL, Svitzer, the Swedish Flag State Authority, the police, Swedish Coastguard, Swedish Navy and Defence Force, the City of Gothenburg, Swedish Maritime Administration, the Port of Gothenburg, the local Fire Brigade, local medical services, the Swedish Sea Rescue Society, and a local commuting ferry operator Styrsöbolaget.
In the scenario the Stena Danica, a 152m ferry carrying 230 vehicles and more than 850 passengers and 60 crew, collided with a container ship and the vessel was holed.
“To set up such a realistic scenario with so many participants was an immense job for The Swedish Club and we were delighted to take up the opportunity to test our emergency plans,” said Jörgen Lorén of Stena Line. “Stena has developed its own comprehensive procedures, and this exercise has been invaluable in reinforcing who is responsible for which action during an emergency, and ensuring that our emergency response plan is sufficiently robust should a real life crisis occur.”
The Swedish Club said that it had run more than 40 such scenarios since the Emergency Response Training Scheme was established in 2017. The Club’s loss prevention team is offering a series of alternative scenarios such as grounding and wreck removal, cargo damage, salvage and pollution, collision, tendering and repair, forum shopping and legal and medical scenarios. The Club said that, as part of the its commitment to loss prevention, the training was offered to members of The Swedish Club free of charge. it said that response to the initiative had been “extremely positive”.