The Atlantic POLEX.PT exercise, held annually by the National Maritime Authority (AMN), also included a simulation of a fuel spill caused by a breakdown in the supply system at the commercial port, which "caused" a serious injury.

Given the "seriousness" of the incident with regional impact, the second level of the Clean Sea Plan was activated, which provides for the reinforcement of material. The plan includes four levels, the first being triggered for major accidents with national mobilization of resources, the second with regional mobilization, the third for responding to minor events and the fourth which configures the readiness of resources.

In the Arade river estuary, in Portimão, five scenarios were set up for containing and collecting fuel oil, protecting the marina, shipyards and the Docapesca area, and for collecting birds and marine animals.

The spilled product "dispersed into two large pollution slicks that drifted into the harbour entrance, adjacent beaches and areas important for the local economy", and it was up to the authorities to contain and recover it by placing booms/barriers.

According to the Director-General of the National Maritime Authority, Vice-Admiral Carlos Ventura Soares, the exercise "which is carried out in several areas of the country, aims to ensure that each area is prepared to respond to pollution accidents at sea".

"This year, we tested a set of situations that are important to prevent here in the Algarve, given that it is a region that is sensitive in environmental and tourism-related issues", he pointed out.

According to the official, the simulation is of "extreme importance" in terms of cooperation between various entities and the integration of resources from Docapesca, local authorities, the Port Administration of Sines and the Algarve and civil protection.

Carlos Ventura Soares also highlighted the importance of international cooperation through the European Maritime Safety Agency, based in Lisbon, which has resources available on the Portuguese coast to participate in combating pollution in the marine environment.

"The issue of pollution is important so that we can sustainably explore the sea and at the same time preserve the environment, ecosystems and ensure biodiversity, hence why we carry out these exercises in coastal areas close to communities", he concluded.

The head of the Directorate for Combating Marine Pollution (DCPM), Captain-of-the-Sea-and-War João Marques da Costa, told journalists that "the exercise is particularly important in terms of operationalising the Clean Sea Plan".

This is a national emergency plan for combating pollution of marine waters by hydrocarbons and hazardous products and which establishes a response mechanism for situations of spills or their imminence, defines responsibilities and establishes the competences of the authorities.

According to the official, during the exercise which tested five occurrences in five different areas, "no worrying situation" was detected in the response of the resources.

"The main thing was to operationalise all the communication channels of the various entities, making this an integrated response", he stressed.

A total of 219 personnel from various entities participated in the AMN simulation, including Civil Protection, the Port Administration of Sines and the Algarve, technicians from the Zoomarine and RIAS water parks, the University of the Algarve, the Portuguese Air Force, the European Maritime Safety Agency and observers from Lithuania, Spain, Morocco and Estonia.

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