Port Operations employees use water to contain a simulated oil spill Friday at Sasebo Naval Base's Akasaki Fuel Terminal during a Sasebo Naval Base/Fleet Industrial Supply Center Joint Fuel Spill Exercise. (Marvin E. Thompson Jr. / Courtesy of U.S. Navy)
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — An emergency caused by a ruptured fuel line at Akasaki Fuel Terminal was the scenario here Friday morning as a number of base departments participated in the Sasebo Naval Base/Fleet Industrial Supply Center Joint Fuel Spill Exercise, designed to gauge how quickly and efficiently they could respond to such an accident.
“It was just outstanding,” said exercise coordinator Lt. Jacquelyn German, a fuel intern with the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center, Sasebo Detachment. “The whole purpose of an exercise like this is to learn. The consensus of everyone attending the after-action meeting was that they were happy with the results. They all learned from the exercise and are looking forward to the next one.”
“Tabletop” sessions were held in November with personnel from FISC, the base medical clinic, fire department, safety division, port operations, and environmental and security departments, German said.
“That’s when we outlined a template to follow if indeed a fuel spill should occur,” she said. “On shore they rarely do, but it is possible, and you want to be prepared.”
German said the participants created a realistic scenario at Akasaki.
“Basically, we have mostly MLCs (Japanese employees) out here at Akasaki, and they are the ones who would actually be working to contain and clean the spill with the U.S. personnel supervising the operation. So a major part of what we were looking at was the seamlessness of our communications between the departments and personnel who would have to provide assistance,” she said.
At least one participant portrayed an injured person needing medical care, which involved communicating that the person had to be removed from the scene and transported to a treatment location.
