Emergency exercise to test responses

Sunday 06 November 2022

A cast of hundreds will help test Guernsey's emergency response to an incident involving a cruise ship today.

The 'Bluefin Cruise Ship Emergency Exercise' is being held at St Peter Port Harbour to test the island's response to a 'mass abandonment' of a visiting vessel.

Guernsey Harbours will be in the spotlight as its response to such an incident would be critical, along with that of the island's emergency services and civil protection volunteers along with other supporting organisations who are often involved in times of crisis.

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Pictured: The Sark Venture (Sark Shipping).

The exercise will see the Sark Venture pose as a stricken cruise ship with the emergency services having to respond as if it were a real event.

They will be tested on both their response to an on-board incident and how they deal with the mass abandonment of the vessel.

The exercise, which will start at around 09:45 on Sunday 6 September, will last around four hours.

The Guernsey Coastguard, the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre, Guernsey Harbours, Guernsey Police, Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service, St John Ambulance and Rescue Service, Guernsey Border Agency, Airport Fire Service, Guernsey Air Traffic Control, the RNLI, Civil Protection, and the Salvation Army, will all be involved.

There will be some disruption to the public during the exercise with no access to areas being used or the surrounding areas.

Entry & exit into St Peter Port harbour by sea will be strictly controlled by Guernsey VTS and there will be no entry to the harbour estate past the North beach slip road as marked on the photograph below.

Pictured: All of the areas outlined in red will be out of bounds during the exercise.

Assistant Harbour Master Mike Harris will be leading the exercise today.

‌“This will be one of the most ambitious exercises that we’ve undertaken for many years," he said.

"Not only is there a humanitarian and legal requirement for us to carry this out, it is vital that the island’s authorities and emergency services retain their excellent reputation within the maritime community.‌

“We need to know we have the right systems in place to cope with a major incident of this type and running these exercises help our emergency teams assess their services, identify any issues in their plans and address any training requirements."‌

Mr Harris said the case study they are following is of a 116,000 ton cruise ship called Star Princess, which caught fire in 2006 with 2,690 passengers and 1123 crew on-board. 

A table-top exercise has already been carried out with volunteers acting as 'passengers' and 'crew' for today's event. 

“The ship was on passage from Grand Cayman to Montego Bay, Jamaica when a fire broke out on an external stateroom balcony, probably caused by a discarded cigarette end. Once established the fire spread rapidly along adjacent balconies assisted by strong winds. Unfortunately, there was one fatality.”

“The International Maritime Organisation defines a Mass Rescue Operation as:  ‘the need for an immediate response to large numbers of persons in distress, such that the capabilities normally available to the SAR Authorities are inadequate.’ ‌

“How will the local emergency services react? How do we deal with other commercial vessels in the area? Where will the casualty reception points be sited? It’s important that everyone knows the answers to these and many other questions before an actual incident Occurs.”

Pictured: Guernsey welcomes many cruise ships of different sizes during the spring and summer each year.

‌Guernsey's cruise liner industry has continued to thrive following the covid pandemic which temporarily halted it.

More than 182,000 cruise ship passengers arrived in the island during 2022.

Those involved in the industry claim St Peter Port is "recognised as one of the most picturesque seaports in Europe and is a stunning location for cruise ship calls".

Guernsey's cruise ship season starts in April and runs through until early October.

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