MOL RUNS VESSEL ACCIDENT DRILL FOR CONTAINERSHIPS

MOL RUNS VESSEL ACCIDENT DRILL FOR CONTAINERSHIPS    Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has carried out its second marine casualty response drill involving containerships.
   “The primary goal of the drill was to demonstrate and test the effectiveness of MOL’s emergency response plan in the event of an incident resulting in environmental pollution,” the Japanese shipping group said.
The drill simulated two scenarios. The first assumed a collision between a MOL-chartered containership and another vessel in a busy port area near San Francisco resulting in severe damage to the MOL-chartered vessel’s hull. The second scenario envisioned a MOL-owned containership running aground in the Singapore Straits, resulting in an oil spill.
   The drill exercise    involved personnel in Tokyo; Concord, Calif.; London; Rotterdam; Singapore and Hong Kong, along with various third parties.
   MOL has traditionally conducted annual oil spill response drills for its global tanker operations. However, with the deployment of larger and faster containerships, MOL has extended its drills to include the liner division, it said.