Tema, Nov. 8, GNA - The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has carried out a three-hour exercise at the Tema Harbour as part of measures to avert any disaster.

The GPHA undertook a mock oil spill response exercise on Tuesday at the oil jetty and the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) berth to test their disaster response capabilities.

The exercise started at 0900 hours when the imaginary vessel MT Prampram, an oil tanker discharging crude oil, spilled oil on the sea that needed immediate clean up.

In the process of cleaning, the oil got ignited by a spark from a workshop close by, setting the oil ablaze.

A distress message was dispatched to all the related stakeholders who responded quickly.

The stakeholders included the personnel from the GPHA Marine Section, Tema Oil Refinery, VALCO, PSC Tema Ship Yard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Navy, Police and the Ghana National Fire Service. The rest were the National Disaster Management Organisation, Tema Offshore Marine Limited, Ghana Civil Aviation, Tema Lube Oil Company, Ghana Bunkering Services and Volta Lake Transport.

As the imaginary spillage spread the imaginary fire also intensified and this made the fighters to spread the rubber "boom" to cordon off the place in order to prevent the oil from spreading for it to be skimmed.

In the course of the exercise two of the men fell into the sea but they were immediately rescued while another two also collapsed and were given treatment by a medical team.

The fire was brought under control at about 1200 hours without any damage to life and property.

The GNA however, observed that the exercise was a bit slow as there was no sign of emergency in handling the situation. Mr Harry Barnes-Dabban, Corporate Estate and Environment Manager of the GPHA, said the exercise would be conducted yearly to build the capacity of the stakeholders

Mr Daniel Amlamlo, the Director of Field Operation of the Environmental Protection Agency, said there were some lapses in the exercise and appealed to the organisers to address them to be able to face the realities when they occur.

He complained of poor communication among the fighters, inadequate equipment, inappropriate usage of language and the absence of a map to guide them.