The Regional Clean Sea Organization (Recso) conducted a three-day training course on “Crisis Management & Oil Spill Response / Development of Regional Oil Spill Contingency Planning” which was held at the Towers Rotana Hotel, Dubai, UAE from 14th till 16th February 2010.

The three-day training course was developed for personnel with responsibility for the managing crisis during major oil spill emergencies. It also reviewed of oil spill and introductions to crisis management and focus on the need for preparedness through contingency planning. The course attendees were also raised their knowledge and competence to prepare for managing major business interruptions during oil spills.

A number of topics were taught including; Sources of Oil in the Marine Environment & Environmental Impacts of Oil; Oil Spill Evaluation; Resources of Risk; Response Strategies; Case Study; Contingency Planning for Oil Spill Incidents; Introduction to Crisis Management; Assessing Risk; Structure & Development of a Crisis Management Plan; Crisis / Incident Management Team Structure and Organization; Communication and Reporting; Public and Community involvement in Crisis Incidents; Media and Communication Exercise; Effective implementation; Training and Exercising; Introduction to Business Continuity Planning; Planning for Recovery; the ROPME Sea Area Regional Contingency Plan and Table Top Exercise.

Participants were from a wide range of organizations and locations including; Kuwait Oil Company (KOC); Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company (TAKREER); ADNOC Distribution; Qatar Petroleum (QP); Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco); National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC); Al Khafji Joint Operations (KGOC / AGOC); The Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO); Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD); Dubai Customs & Sharjah Municipality.