National and international experts took part in the I Technical Conference on the Specific Canary Island Plan for Accidental Marine Pollution (PECMAR) that was opened by the Minister for Regional Policy, Sustainability and Security of the Canary Island Regional Government, Nieves Lady Barreto in the PLOCAN offices in Taliarte.
Scientists and emergency personnel analysed the methods and materials necessary to tackle a hydrocarbon spill and reviewed the procedures followed in recent events in the Canary Islands and in important historical cases, including the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989, or the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
Some of the main objectives set by PECMAR were to create a group of experts to guide the administrations involved in contingencies of this kind, along with defining future lines for adequately developing the contingency plans and for establishing a working agenda for the group of experts, including holding new meetings, planning drills, training activities, etc.
The Portuguese Regional Agency of Research, Development and Technology (ARDITI) organised the fourth co-ordination meeting of the research project on Multi-National Preparedness and Response to Chemical and Hydrocarbon Spills (MARPOCS) ECHO/SUB/2015/713854/PREP08 of the DG-ECHO 2015 call for projects, funded by the European Commission.
The partners of the European Smart Submarine Robots Working in Co-operative Networks Project (SWARMs), funded by the European Commission and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, organised the first demonstration of the project, with the participation of PLOCAN as a partner, in Mangalia, Romania, between the 3rd and the 11th of July.
The general objective of the SWARMs Project, co-ordinated by the Polytechnic University of Madrid, is to extend the use of unmanned submarine vehicles and facilitate the creation, planning and execution of maritime and off-shore operations by reducing operating costs and enhancing security.
Representatives of the Chilean Marine Energy Research and Innovation Centre (MERIC) visited the PLOCAN facilities in Taliarte.
