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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Aim and scope

The aim of this paper is to compare tabletop exercises

to other types of exercises in improving the

preparedness for shipborne oil spills. The paper

discusses the benefits and limitations of tabletop

exercises in the light of four executed exercises

performed in the Lake Saimaa region during the past

years. The analysis is supported with observations

made during five field training exercises within the

same time period.

1.2 Background

Responsibility in shipborne oil pollution response in

Finland is divided between environmental and

emergency services authorities. Since the beginning of

the year 2019, the governmental agency the Finnish

Border Guard is the competent pollution response

Improving Preparedness for Shipborne Oil Pollution

–

Highlights of Tabletop Exercises at Saimaa Inland

Waters

. Halonen & E. Altarriba

South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences Xamk, Kotka, Finland

ABSTRACT: Lake Saimaa is the largest lake in Finland and the Saimaa inland waterway network is one of the

main transport corridors for merchant shipping. The Saimaa inland watercourse is a challenging operating

environment due to shallow waters, narrowness of the fairways, fast currents as well as the sensitiveness of the

environment. It is recognised that the heavy vessel traffic poses a risk of oil pollution. An oil spill incident in

inland waters has a high potential for contaminating shorelines and affecting populated areas. Responding to

such an incident involves several governmental and regional authorities, agencies and voluntary organisations.

Inter-agency coordination is considered a key element in incident management. Several exercise types can be

used to train multi-agency collaboration in joint response operations. This paper analyses the benefits of

tabletop exercises in the strengthening of joint preparedness and contingency planning. Paper compares the

outcomes of discussion-based exercises with operations-based drills and full-scale exercises. The analysis is

based on four oil spill response tabletop exercises and five oil response drills conducted in Saimaa region in

2017–2018. Different types of exercises make it possible to focus on different aspects of the response operation.

Operations-based exercises are useful in improving technical skills and testing procedures and the functioning

of the equipment. Due to time restrictions, the equipment deployment drills usually focus on a specific function

or a single task. Tabletop exercises can be used to assess contingency plans on a strategic level. Tabletop

exercises offer an opportunity to clarify roles and responsibilities, discuss priorities and establish inter-agency

agreements. The advantages of tabletop exercises include their flexibility in scenario-building, low-cost

implementation and the possibility to study a longer time span in order to gain a more holistic view of the

response operation.

http://www.transnav.eu

the International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 13

Number 1

March 2019

DOI: 10.12716/1001.13.01.23

222

authority. In the event of a major shipborne oil spill,

the Border Guard conducts the oil spill response

measures on the open sea. The Regional Fire and

Rescue Services (RFRS) are in charge of oil response

operations both in coastal and inland waters. The

Centres for Economic Development, Transport and

the Environment (ELY Centres) approve the rescue

authorities’ contingency planning. The environmental

officials of the ELY Centres also assist the RFRSs in

executing the spill response operation by providing

data for protection prioritisation. Along with the

authorities, several non-governmental institutions as

well as voluntary organisations are involved. For

example, the Voluntary Oil Spill Recovery Troops of

the WWF Finland are prepared to assist in responding

to an oil spill contaminating shorelines.

As Lake Saimaa is an inland waterbody, the

emergency response chain differs from the coastal

arrangements. Saimaa Vessel Traffic Service (Saimaa

VTS) is the responsible authority in coordinating

distress communication in accordance with the Global

Maritime Distress and Safety System. Distress call

may also be made directly to the Emergency Response

Centre by using GSM. From here on, the RFRS

conducts the rescue operation while the contractual

fire brigades and the Finnish Lifeboat Institution

serve as reserves for personnel and equipment. The

Police performs criminal investigation, if needed, and

the emergency medical service takes charge of the

injured people. The role of other authorities, such as

municipal officers, depends on the situation. The

emergency response chain on Lake Saimaa region is

illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Emergency response chain on Lake Saimaa

(Altarriba et al. 2018).

This paper focuses on the field of responsibility of

the RFRSs and, particularly, on the recent capacity

building actions carried out in four RFRS regions

surrounding the Lake Saimaa. These actions include

several exercise and training events, part of which the

authors of this paper were able to participate in.

1.3 Study structure

This paper provides an overview of the oil spill

response exercises used to improve preparedness for

shipborne spills. First, the necessity of high oil spill

response preparedness is described by presenting the

main conclusions of an accidental risk assessment in

relation to the sensitivity of the Lake Saimaa

environment. Second, the types of exercises generally

used to improve the response capability are

introduced. Third, the benefits and limitations of each

exercise type are discussed based on observations

done during four tabletop exercises and five field

training exercises. In the conclusions, the outcomes

are summarized and some recommendations for

future training are presented.

2 RISK FOR SHIPBORNE OIL SPILL IN SAIMAA

INLAND WATERS

Lake Saimaa is the largest lake in Finland and the

fourth largest lake system in Europe with surface area

of approximately 4.400 square kilometers (Finland’s

Environmental Administration 2015). Lake Saimaa is

connected to the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea via

Saimaa Canal and the Saimaa Deep Water Route for

merchant shipping. The traffic density in the area is

relatively high. In 2018, the number of vessel passages

through Saimaa Canal exceeded 1.500, and the

maritime transport of goods comprised 1,186 million

tons of cargo (OSF 2019). Majority of the transported

goods (91,4%) consisted of forest industry products

for international trade (Finnish Transport Agency

2018) and in this role, the Saimaa waterways have

developed into one of the main transport corridors in

the trans-European transport network (TEN-T).

Lake Saimaa is a labyrinthine watercourse with

narrow fairways and over 14.000 islands (Finland’s

Environmental Administration 2015). The confined

and shallow waters, straits, narrow channels and tight

turns combined with fast currents cause navigational

challenges and limited mistake margins (Halonen &

Kauppinen 2017). The total length of the Saimaa deep

water route is about 760 kilometers, 255 kilometers of

which (33,5%) is considered difficult to navigate

(Halonen & Kauppinen 2017).

The Saimaa Canal restricts the maximum size of

the vessels up to 82,5 meters in length (Finnish

Transport Infrastructure Agency 2019). In addition to

these Saimax-class cargo vessels, the traffic consists of

passenger vessels, yachts and barges for timber

floating, while the tanker traffic is prohibited due to

the environmental sensitivity of the area. The risk of

oil spill results from bunker fuel oils and lubricants.

The potential outflow is estimated to vary from 20 to

30 cubic meters, as the vessels sailing in the area carry

typically 40–50 cubic meters but up to 170 cubic

meters bunker fuels (Heikkilä 2016; Halonen,

Häkkinen & Kauppinen 2016; Halonen & Kauppinen

2017). Based on a risk assessment (See Halonen,

Häkkinen & Kauppinen 2016), the probability of ship

accidents in the Saimaa watercourse is relatively high.

Incidents occur every year, the average annual

accident frequency being five incidents. However, it is

worth noting that yet so far no large scale shipborne

oil spills have occurred, only small volume spills.

(Halonen, Häkkinen & Kauppinen 2016.)

Lake Saimaa is a very sensitive environment

preserved in its natural state in spite of significant

forest industry and its water is used as both drinking

water and process and condenser water for industrial

plants. Several environmental protection areas and

two national parks are situated in the region. Most

importantly, the area is the habitat for many

endangered species, the most significant being the

critically endangered Saimaa ringed seal, Pusa hispida

saimensis, and the Grayling, Thymallus thymallus,

classified as near threatened species. (Toivola 2015;

Rassi et al. 2010; Halonen & Kauppinen 2017).

223

The characteristics of the Saimaa inland waters, the

narrow channels and canals, numerous islands and

islets, as well as ice-coverage during wintertime affect

the vessel traffic, but also complicate the spill

response operations. Due to the close proximity of the

shorelines, time for boom deployment to prevent oil

washing ashore is very limited. Effective shoreline

protection is further limited by fast currents. In case of

an oil spill, the risk for shoreline contamination is

very high. (Halonen & Kauppinen 2017.) As typical to

inland waters, a potential oil spill is likely to affect

populated areas and contaminate surface and

groundwater water supplies (Owens et al. 1993;

Halonen & Kauppinen 2017). An oil discharge, even

small in volume, is therefore considered detrimental.

3 GETTING PREPARED THROUGH EXERCISING

Effective oil spill response requires competent

personnel and functioning equipment. The optimal

use of these resources is often described as procedures

and guidelines in Oil Spill Response Contingency

Plans. The most practical way to assess and test the

feasibility of the planned procedures is to expose

them to exercising. Different types of exercises make

it possible to validate the different aspects of the

response plan. An exercise programme should

encompass all elements of the contingency plan and,

by using various exercises as building blocks (See

Figure 2), progressively prepare the personnel to

master the whole scope of the operation. (IMO &

IPIECA 2005; Halonen 2018.) Exercise programmes

are incorporated into the statutory contingency plans

and updated annually.

Figure 2. Progressive proceeding of exercise programme

where discussion-based exercises precede operations-based

activities. The higher stage in the pyramid, the more prior

knowledge is required from the participants and the more

pre-planning the exercise takes. (IPIECA & IOGP 2014;

Halonen 2018)

Exercise types are generally divided into

discussion-based exercises and operations-based

exercises, where workshops and tabletops represent

the former and drills and equipment deployment

exercises the latter (Leonard & Roberson 1999; IPIECA

& IOGP 2014). Exercising should proceed stepwise

from simpler to more complex and from discussion-

based to operations-based exercises as illustrated in

Figure 2.

Operations-based exercises are useful in testing

procedures and the functioning of the equipment.

Discussion-based exercises can be used to assess

contingency plans on a more strategic level as they

offer possibilities to challenge response options and to

gain mutual agreement on, for instance, response

priorities. (Gleason 2003; IPIECA & IOGP 2014;

Halonen 2018.) By using a wide range of exercises in

terms of types, scales and difficulty levels, the

contingency plan can be tested systematically. Thus, a

comprehensive exercise programme helps to identify

possible gaps in response resources or capabilities

(Gleason 2003; IPIECA & IOGP 2014) – and keeps the

training motivational.

3.1 Drills and equipment deployment exercises

Drills are exercises, in which personnel and response

equipment are deployed and operated in a field

environment (Leonard & Roberson 1999). Drills

usually focus on a specific function or a single task

(Halonen 2018) and are used to provide training on

new equipment, validate procedures, and maintain or

improve technical skills (Gleason 2003; IPIECA &

IOGP 2014). Drills offer an opportunity to assess the

functionality of the equipment and to find the most

feasible response methods or techniques for specific

operating environments. The greatest advantage of

equipment deployment exercises is that they

demonstrate the capabilities of the responders to

employ the equipment as well as reveal the time the

deployment takes (Leonard & Roberson 1999).

Figure 3. Northern Savonia Equipment Deployment Drill

testing the most suitable boom model for under-ice boom-

deployment (Halonen 2018).

3.2 Tabletop exercises

Tabletop exercises are defined as spill response

management exercises without actual mobilization of

personnel or equipment (Leonard & Roberson 1999;

IMO & IPIECA 2005). An objective of a tabletop

exercise is usually to develop a response plan to a

specific incident based on a simulated scenario. The

exercise scenario may remain constant, or when more

complexity is added, the scenario advances as the

exercise facilitators provide injects, such as event

updates or situation reports in accordance with the

pre-planned exercise script (IPIECA & IOGP 2014;

Ha-lonen 2018). The exercise scenario is often build to

224

mimic an actual incident (Patrick & Barber 2001) and

offers the participants an opportunity to clarify roles

and responsibilities, discuss priorities and establish

inter-agency agreements in a realistic, but non-

stressful situation (Gleason 2003; IPIECA & IOGP

2014; Halonen 2018). This fosters cooperation and

communication, and improves tactical response skills.

Therefore tabletop exercises are considered useful in

training multi-agency collaboration in joint response

operations. Typical training objectives include

incident command management, planning of

response tactics and use of communication and

situation awareness systems.

Figure 4. Tabletop exercise conducted in the Incident

Management Center of Southern Savonia Rescue Service,

and observers monitoring the progress of the situation

(Halonen 2018).

Figure 5. Exercise target vessel assisting in Arvinsalmi full-

scale oil spill response exercise in North Karelia (Pitkäaho

2017).

3.3 Full-scale exercises

Full-scale exercises are exercises, in which resources,

personnel and equipment, are mobilised and

deployed to the full extent. The exercise scenario is

simulated on the incident site and the operations are

conducted as in actual emergency situations; in real

time and, if applicable, with realistic delay times. This

exercise type is very complex and resource-intensive

as it involves many participants from different

agencies and stakeholders. On the other hand, for that

very reason, the full-scale exercise offers an

opportunity to assess the availability and capabilities

of maximum joint resources. Therefore it would be

beneficial if all of the cooperation authorities and

third parties who would normally be a part of such a

response operation could be involved (IMO & IPIECA

2005), although this is often limited due to high

expenses.

4 RECENT EXERCISES IN LAKE SAIMAA REGION

Regional authorities responsible for oil spill response

actions in Lake Saimaa area accomplished a joint

project developing an Inland Oil Spill Response

Management Model last year. This project, called

SÖKÖSaimaa (2016–2018), was coordinated by the

Seafaring research and development team of the

Logistics and Seafaring RDI department of the South-

Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences

(Xamk). As part of the SÖKÖSaimaa project, the

project consortium arranged four tabletop exercises

and three field exercises. In addition, the rescue

services conducted two full-scale exercises according

to their confirmed exercise programme. The executed

exercises together with their objectives are presented

in Table 1. The exercises, nine in total

, were held

between May 2017 and October 2018.

Tabletop exercises were conducted in each rescue

service region. The number of participants varied

from 13 to 30 persons per exercise, total being 90

persons, majority of which were rescue service

operative personnel. The role of the project team was

to build the exercise scenario, design the script and

facilitate the exercise as well as take care of the

practical arrangements of the event. Planning process

of each exercise took 16 to 32 working hours and one

exercise session 4 to 6 hours on average.

The objectives of each tabletop exercise were set

together with the responsible authority. The starting

point of the exercise planning was to familiarize the

operative personnel with the outcomes of the new

Inland Oil Spill Response Management Model. In

addition to this, the tabletops were meant to focus on

themes the previous exercises had not covered. On

this basis, the objectives were directed towards

managing the middle and final phases of an oil spill

response operation, as the initial response phase is

frequently trained within the regular exercise

programme. The exercise scenario of each tabletop

exercise was built upon a shipborne oil spill, but the

type of the accident, time, location, volume spilt and

the environmental conditions at the spill site varied.

The tabletop exercises were conducted in the

rescue service incident command centres and in two

of them also an auditorium was used (due to

numerous participants). All participants were

provided with the means of communication and

accesses to the situational awareness system (Baltic

Oil spill Response Information System, BORIS 2.0)

containing relevant information for the response

planning, operational and sensitivity maps, logistical

information and map-based tools for boom

deployment planning and resource allocation. The

exercise facilitators consisted of three project team

members and one role player outside the exercise

room supported by the officers on-duty from Saimaa

Vessel Traffic Service, Finnpilot Pilotage and Finnish

Transport Safety Agency. In two tabletop exercises,

maritime authorities were also invited to join the

Incident Command Management Team.

The exercises started with a briefing of the

objectives and the background information of the

Exercises within the project framework, the list is not inclusive.

225

initial situation, scheduled time and available tools.

The tabletop participants were encouraged to ask

questions and to indicate when ever issues arise that

require more discussion. The nature of the event as a

learning situation rather than an assessment of the

performance of the individuals was highlighted. In

order to validate the accuracy of the contingency plan,

the participants were instructed to follow the

procedures as truthfully as appropriate, for example

actually making the necessary phone calls instead of

just simulating them.

The actual exercise phase commenced with an

emergency call from the vessel in distress. Following

that, the participating authorities formed an Incident

Command Management Team that controlled the

response operation from the initial response phase to

the closure of the operation.

Within each exercise, the scope of the actions

covered all sections of the contingency plan with the

emphasis on different temporal phases. The Southern

Savonia tabletop exercise focused on the emergency

phase and ensuring effective communication between

rescue service, vessel traffic service and the vessel in

distress. The North Karelia tabletop exercise was

aimed to plan the reconnaissance surveys to assess

the shoreline oiling conditions using SCAT

procedures (Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment

Technique) and initiate cleanup operations with

relevant logistical support, while the Northern

Savonia exercise concentrated on maintaining

maintenance and provisions as the operation was

expected to last several weeks. The aim of the South

Karelia exercise was to familiarize some new

personnel with the Incident Command (IC) Structure

and IC procedures as well as new job aids developed

in the SÖKÖSaimaa project. The tabletop exercise

preceded the full-scale exercise where the IC

procedures were implemented.

Rescue services in the Lake Saimaa region arrange

at least one full-scale exercise in a year. The exercises

are targeted at both management and operational

level personnel, and the participants represent also

other agencies and volunteers. Joint spill response

performance was evaluated by means of Arvinsalmi

Full-scale Exercise in September 2017. The exercise

provided good results, and also demonstrated the

minimum number of personnel needed in an IC team.

This identification of resource needs offered valuable

information to be specified in contingency plans and

later used in tabletops.

Another collaboration exercise was arranged in the

southern part of the region in October 2018. This

South Karelian exercise focused on response activities

in restricted visibility. The exercise scenario simulated

a grounding of a light passenger vessel resulting in a

spillage of light fuel oil, and later, the scenario

advanced to a search and rescue (SAR) operation with

casualties both onboard and overboard. Responding

to this multimodal accident involved an air patrol

squadron from the Finnish Border Guard, the Finnish

Defence Forces, contractual fire brigades as well as

the Voluntary Rescue Service Vapepa and the Finnish

Lifeboat Institution with their voluntary search and

rescue units. The actual training session took about

three hours, while the preparations and demolitions

took a whole day. The exercise planning was started

in early 2018.

Table 1. Exercises conducted in Lake Saimaa area within the

SÖKÖSaimaa project framework in years 2017-2018.

_______________________________________________

Date Name, type of exercise & objective

_______________________________________________

8.5.2017 Hammaslahti Reconnaissance Survey Drill in

North Karelia

Testing applicability of different reconnaissance

and surveillance techniques, including RPAS

surveillance (Remotely Piloted Aircraft

Systems), in determining the areal extent and the

degree of contamination of oiled shorelines.

19.10.2017 Vuoksi Equipment Deployment Exercise in Fast

Currents in South Karelia

Testng different types of booms and boom

configurations suitable for oil containment in

fast currents of Vuoksi River.

20.9.2017 Arvinsalmi Full-scale Exercise in North Karelia

Scenario: a collision between a cargo ship and a

ferry resulting in an oil spill, no other injuries.

Focus on an incident management and response

actions including oil containment and recovery.

6.3.2018 Mikkeli Tabletop exercise in Southern Savonia

Tabletop exercise for multi-agency response.

Participants: rescue service, environmental and

maritime authorities including operative rescue

service personnel.

Scenario: nighttime grounding of a cargo vessel

resulting in an oil spill. Focus on communication

and the initial actions in assessing the drift of oil

in situation in which visual observations are not

possible.

10.4.2018 Joensuu Tabletop exercise in North Karelia

Tabletop exercise for multi-agency response.

Participants: rescue service, environmental and

maritime authorities including operative rescue

service personnel.

Scenario: onshore oil spill response operation as

a continuation of the Arvinsalmi full-scale

exercise (20.9). Focus on management actions in

conducting SCAT and oil recovery operation

management including clean-up procedures,

logistics and waste disposal.

11.4.2018 Kuopio Tabletop exercise in Northern Savonia

Tabletop exercise for regional authorities

including the operative personnel. Scenario: a

grounding of a cargo vessel resulting in a

leakage in her engine room. Focus on multi-

agency communication between rescue service

and maritime authorities in managing salvage

and spill response operation.

12.4.2018 Kuopio Equipment Deployment Exercise in Ice

Conditions in Northern Savonia

Drill to test oil spill response tactics in ice

conditions. Training ice-slotting, the use of

booms and skimmers.

3.5.2018 Joutseno Tabletop exercise in South Karelia

Tabletop exercise for rescue service, maritime

and environmental authorities.

Scenario: a vessel collision in an industrial

harbour resulting in an oil spill, no other

injuries. Focus on oil spill response tactics, oil

containment and recovery, as well as logistical

support.

10.10.2018 Lappeenranta Full-scale exercise in South

Karelia Joint exercise based on a scenario of a

grounding of a passenger ship resulting in

several casualties on board and overboard, as

well as an oil spillage. Focus on managing

simultaneous search and rescue operation and

oil spill response operation.

____________________________________________

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5 DISCUSSION ON LESSONS LEARNT

Frequently oil spill response training focuses on the

initial phase of the response operation, such as alert

and notification procedures, oil containment booming

and other straightforward response countermeasures,

whereas maintaining the long-term process of the

operation is paid scant attention to (Gleason 2003;

Leonard et al. 2014; Narin van Court & Robinson

2014). This is mainly driven by economical reasons.

Training is resource-intensive and costly as it need to

be arranged during extra working hours of the

personnel in order to maintain adequate readiness to

actual emergencies. Restricted amount of time forces

setting the goal to the first critical response tasks.

Gleason (2003) suggests that the narrow scope of

training objectives is partly linked to increased

operational demands of authorities as well as the

personnel turnover requiring repetition. Based on the

authors experience, the tabletop exercise format

proved its usefulness in meeting these challenges.

Careful design of the exercise script makes it possible

to study a longer time span in order to gain a holistic

view of the response operation. By manipulating time,

different elements of the response operation - alerting

and notification, resource identification, protection

prioritisation, oil containment booming, oil recovery,

shoreline protection and clean-up, oil waste logistics,

waste disposal, wildlife issues, human resources,

communication, claims management, maintenance,

decontamination etc. can be covered in a relatively

short period of time and thus with minimal

disruption to daily operations. The feedback

confirmed that setting the focus beyond the crisis

phase of the incident to the later phases of the

operation was beneficial, gave wider perspective on

spill response issues and clarified many questions the

participants have had.

It was also noted that, though the systematical

establishment of the objectives would allow all

elements of the contingency plan to be dealt with, it

requires a progressive approach. In addition, the

focus must be limited to the oil spill response

excluding competitive goals. When planning the

exercises, a following guideline was kept in mind:

“two or three primary objectives are better than a long

list of secondary objectives” as defined by both IMO

& IPIECA (2005) and IPIECA & IOGP (2014). Also

Patrick & Barber (2001) underline that a tabletop

exercise should focus on one key objective and one or

two sub-objectives at a time. However, distraction

due to “competitive” objectives was detectable during

the Northern Savonia tabletop exercise, where the

salvage of the vessel itself rose to a central role and

controlling the oil spillage would have been

overlooked without the facilitators’ intervention. The

authors assume that this was contributed by the fact

that the participants were more acquainted with

salvage routines than spill response operation. Thus,

the attention tended to focus on more familiar tasks.

Distraction was even more evident in the South

Karelia Full-scale Exercise, during which the

management of SAR operations ran over other tasks

while the spill response countermeasures were almost

neglected by the IC. This proved that, since saving

human lives is the first priority, it is advisable not to

incorporate rescue tasks to exercises with

environmental protection goals if the time allocated

does not allow staggering of the objectives. With

several simultaneous objectives, the common

operating picture seemed to be lacking and, as far the

authors observed, it managed to not form within the

given exercise time.

One of the greatest advantages of the tabletop

exercises, which was also confirmed by participant

feedback, was the opportunity to strengthen

collaboration. Tabletops provided non-stressful

situations to clarify inter-agency roles and

responsibilities in contingency planning and in joint

operations. The participants stated that especially the

involvement of the maritime authorities, pilots, safety

inspectors and VTS operators, alongside the

environmental specialists of ELY Centres, contributed

to a better understanding of the incident management

as the authorities have usually had separate exercises

of their own. Discussions helped to share experiences

and to gain regional agreements on i.e. response

priorities.

On the other hand, the discussions-based nature of

the tabletops is also recognised to be its potential

weakness. Failures in setting appropriate objectives

can easily lead to ineffective exercise facilitation i.e.

too broad nature of the tabletop discussions (Leonard

& Roberson 1999; IPIECA & IOGP 2014). Vague

discussions do not provide tangible results or

measurable improvements, nor provide any learning

value (Leonard & Roberson 1999). Unlimited

possibilities in conducting tabletop exercises can

therefore be two-faced; the scenario-building needs

balancing between pre-planning and improvisation.

Exercise manuscripts should include a master list of

events or injects and their expected timeline, but leave

room for the chain of events the participants

themselves will set off. Pre-scripted injects help to

ensure that the exercise advances but remains within

the designed parameters. The main task of the

facilitators is to ensure that the discussions are

focused and the objectives of the exercise will be

fulfilled. Autonomous-driven scenarios will lead to

dead-end or on the sidelines from the exercise goals.

It was recognised that the effortlessness of the

response actions within tabletop exercise may create

assumptions that may not be grounded on reality. For

example, the true deployment times of the equipment

are easily obscured as the exercise format allows vast

resources to be deployed in seconds. Therefore

realistic delay and response times based on field

exercise results, should always be brought out. It is

also essential to not just base the estimates on

resource availability on written lists in contingency

plans, but to verify them by actually contacting the

resource providers. In three tabletop exercises out of

four, the participants found outdated information in

their contingency plans and they were mostly related

to the available resources and contact lists. Updated

information saves time in actual emergencies and

contributes also to other activities, not just oil spill

response issues.

Arrangements for tabletops and simulating the

exercise scenario can be carried out with a few

facilitators. The actual exercise can be executed with a

relatively small group of key personnel, however the

number of the participants can be easily increased in

order to achieve the benefits of a mutual planning

227

process. Moreover, not every participant needs to be

situated in the same place, as many of the roles can be

played via phone. Furthermore, not all agencies need

a prior notice. This gives a lot of flexibility for the

exercise design and arrangements. The low-cost

implementation of tabletop exercises allows them to

be organised frequently, even for smaller groups at a

time. In that case, it is essential to share results wider

to increase the number of beneficiaries of the exercise.

Table 2. Elements of the oil spill response preparedness and

the observed areas of improvement the different types of

exercises contributed the most.

____________________________________________

Objective Tabletop Drill Full-scale

Exercise Exercise

____________________________________________

Notifications X X* X

Resource identification X X X

Resource availability X* X* X

Verifying competencies/gaps X X

Responsibilities & roles X X

Validating contingency plans X X

Inter-agency collaboration X X

Communication X X* X

Surveillance & forecasting X* X* X*

Protection prioritisation X X

Response tactics & strategies X X

Response measures & techniques X X

Mobilization times & procedures X X

Deployment times & procedures X X

Equipment functionality X X

Shoreline treatment X X

Logistical support X* X* X

Local conditions X X

Equipment maintenance X* X X

Managing waste disposal X* X* X*

Long-term operations X*

Financial management & claims X*

____________________________________________

* If targeted at that specific objective

6 CONCLUSIONS

The objective of this paper was to discuss the benefits

and limitations of tabletop exercises in improving

preparedness for shipborne oil pollution compared to

other exercise formats. The comparison originated

from the experiences in facilitating four tabletop

exercises and two drills as well as participating in

three field exercises in the Lake Saimaa region during

the past years.

Discussion-based tabletop exercises proved their

usefulness in assessing the contingency plans on a

strategic level. The tabletop exercises contributed to

the clarification of the roles and responsibilities and

gave possibilities to discuss priorities and establish

inter-agency agreements. The advantages of tabletop

exercises included their flexibility in scenario-

building, low-cost implementation and the possibility

to study a longer time span in order to gain a more

holistic view of the response operation. However,

tabletops cannot replace the operations-based training

– both formats have a role in ensuring proper oil spill

response preparedness (See Table 2). Field exercises

are needed in order to validate realistic response

times, the functioning of the equipment as well as to

improve the skills of the responders. Tabletops should

be based on these tested parameters, otherwise there

is a risk of unrealistic assumptions in contingency

planning rebounding upon actual emergencies. With

goal-oriented facilitation, tabletop exercises offer an

effective way to test and validate spill response

strategies. In particular, tabletops are useful in

training long-term, multi-agency operations. Based on

the authors experiences, as the oil spill response

operations are not as familiar as other rescue

operations, it is recommended to conduct oil spill

response exercises separately and not to add other

objectives until the participants are trained enough or

the number of persons in the IC team is adequate to

handle multisectoral operation.

In order to enhance the learning outcomes of

future exercises, the contents of tabletop exercises are

recommended to be extended to cover also cost

accounting and claims management. In addition, the

facilitators should find more ways to document the

participants’ activities, to collect and analyse data in

order to conclude the exercise, and to share findings

and recommendations even more effectively.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The tabletop exercises were mainly conducted under the

project SÖKÖSaimaa (2016-2018) funded by the Finnish Oil

Spill Compensation Fund of the Finnish Ministry of the

Environment, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied

Sciences Xamk and the Rescue Services of South Karelia,

North Karelia, Southern Savonia and Northern Savonia, the

Finnish Maritime Foundation, Nestori Foundation and Reijo

Rautauoma Foundation. The SÖKÖSaimaa project group

comprised of the designated spill response specialists

representing the above mentioned rescue services together

with the Finnish Transport Agency, the Finnish

Environment Institute and the Centres for Economic

Development, Transport and the Environment of South

Savo, North Savo, North Karelia and Southeast Finland

(ELY Centres). Acknowledgments are made to the

contribution of the rescue services and the ELY Centres and

to our co-workers at Xamk; Mrs Emmi Rantavuo, Mr Mikko

Pitkäaho, Mr Joel Kauppinen and Mrs Vappu Kunnaala-

Hyrkki. Special thanks to Mr Pasi Vahtola from the Finnish

Lifeboat Institution for role-playing a captain constantly

shipwrecking his vessel and letting us to test our

preparedness.

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