MPA Conducts Ferry Evacuation Exercise To Test Emergency Preparedness
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Friday, May 6, 2016
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) held a half-day ferry evacuation exercise today to test the readiness of various agencies to respond to potential ferry mishaps in the Port of Singapore.
More than 150 personnel from eight agencies and companies took part in this exercise, which included deployment of resources at sea at the Small Craft Anchorage for rescue operations and at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (TMFT), the landing point for ‘rescued’ passengers.
To practise the ferry crew on the passenger management and evacuation drills at sea, the exercise scenario involved an inbound regional ferry which struck an object and had taken in water while en route to TMFT.
As a precautionary measure, the ferry master evacuated the 62 passengers on board into life rafts for transfer to a second ferry via MPA Patrol Craft. There were no injuries reported.
Andrew Tan, MPA's Chief Executive said, "Safety remains a top priority. Today's ferry evacuation is part of our regular emergency exercises to test our agencies’ response to any emergencies within our waters. It is also a reminder to all our stakeholders, including the ferry and terminal operators, that safety is everyone’s responsibility and we have to remain vigilant at all times. MPA will continue to work with the maritime community to raise the overall standards of safety in our port.”
In addition to MPA officers, other agencies and companies that took part in the exercise included the Singapore Police Force, Police Coast Guard, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority, SINDO Ferry and Singapore Cruise Centre Pte Ltd.