-Response to Ferry Collision, Flooding, Oil Spill, Fire, Missing Passengers
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL, President: Koichi Muto) and MOL Ferry Co., Ltd. (President: Osamu Suzuki) today announced the completion of a table top drill based on the scenario of the ferry Sunflower Furano operated by MOL Ferry being involved in a collision that resulted in flooding, oil spill, fire, and missing passengers off Shiriyazaki, Aomori Prefecture. The October 22 drill involved about 70 participants from both companies.
The three-and-a-half-hour drill began at 1 p.m. Friday, October 22. The intent of the exercise was to strengthen the foundation of corporate social responsibility laid out in the MOL Group Corporate Principles — protecting the environment by maintaining strict, safe operation and navigation standards. Specifically, the drill was designed to confirm the precise, smooth communication and response so critical in case of a flooding, oil spill, or missing passenger incident involving an MOL Ferry-operated ship.
President Koichi Muto was appointed as Executive Commander of the Emergency Control Headquarters. Participants from the MOL Head Office in Tokyo included seven executive officers and personnel from other related divisions (Corporate Planning Division, General Affairs Division, Public Relations Office, Marine Safety Division, Technical Division, and Group Business Division); and from MOL Ferry included President Osamu Suzuki, four executive officers, and personnel from other related divisions (Administration Division and Marine Division).
The exercise presumed that the MOL Ferry-operated vessel collided with a large containership off Shiriyazaki. The vessel was flooding, lubricating oil was leaking, and a fire had broken out; to make matters worse, some passengers were thrown overboard by the collision and were missing.
The drill started with an initial incident report from the ferry, after which MOL and MOL Ferry organized an Emergency Control Headquarters, confirmed first-response tasks and procedures such as information gathering and communication among parties concerned, initiating countermeasures for flooding and fire, launching a search for missing passengers, beginning oil cleanup efforts, and holding a media response drill.
MOL holds biannual table top drills based on various scenarios around the world. The company continues to sharpen its group-wide emergency response readiness procedures by sharing know-how accumulated in these training sessions throughout the MOL Group fleet.
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