Embargoed until Friday, 16 October 2009
Marine Chemical Spill Response Exercise
NSW Maritime is staging Exercise Stingray today to test the NSW marine incident response capability to
events such as shipping accidents in our ports and coastal waters.
Maritime’s Manager Shipping and Pollution Response Shayne Wilde said this type of annual exercise is
used to test various aspects of State and National protocols for responding to pollution incidents.
“Exercise Stingray will focus on a bulk chemical spillage of anhydrous ammonia from a ship in the Port of
Newcastle,” Mr Wilde said.
Exercise Stingray will be a desktop exercise to test the NSW State Waters Marine Oil and Chemical Spill
Contingency Plan and the control and coordination arrangements for agencies responding to a significant
chemical spill from a ship.
Participants will examine the control and coordination requirements for this type of incident and develop an
appropriate incident action plan.
Along with NSW Maritime, agencies/ organisations involved are:
Newcastle Port Corporation
NSW Fire Brigades
NSW Police Service
NSW Ambulance Service
Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water
Industry & Investment NSW
Emergency Management NSW
Sydney Ports Corporation
Port Kembla Port Corporation
Newcastle City Council
ORICA
Port Waratah Coal Services
The exercise is based on a spillage of anhydrous ammonia which will impact the port waters and also the
land in the vicinity of the incident. It is a desktop exercise being held today at NSW Maritime offices, 207
Kent St Sydney.
It follows Exercise Blackadder held in August that tested NSW Maritime’s internal response to an oil spill off
Montague Island on the NSW South Coast and the previous annual exercise Exercise Oily Carp which was a
discussion exercise and examined a response to a major ship grounding and subsequent oil spill off Coffs
Harbour.
Media contact: Neil Patchett 0418 279 465
NEWS 
