The head of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) contingent "recognized the role of Japan Coast Guard (JCG) in ensuring the operational readiness of the Philippines and Indonesia for oil spill incidents" during the Regional Marine Pollution Exercise (Marpolex) 2022.

In his speech during the opening ceremony of Marpolex 2022 in Makassar, Indonesia, Vice Admiral Rolando Punzalan said the participating coast guards had an "opportunity to share new knowledge and techniques in the field of marine environmental protection."

"The primary focus of this gathering is to protect our marine environment. Hence, I call on our law enforcement units and shipping industry stakeholders to unite in protecting our rich marine environment," he said.

"This joint maritime exercise between the Philippines, Indonesia, and Japan symbolizes our powerful spirit of cooperation in times of emergency and disasters," he ended.

Also present during the ceremony are Mugen Sartoto of the Directorate General of Sea Transportation (DGST) of the Republic of Indonesia and Rear Admiral Hashimoto Masanori of the Japan Coast Guard (JCG).

Punzalan also called for unity in protecting the marine environment as he noted all countries are prone to oil spill incidents as ships traverse oceans to support the global economy.

"Oil spill incidents will continue as long as the oceans remain our means of transporting oil efficiently. For this unavoidable nature of oil spill incidents, we gather here in the Regional Marpolex 2022 and think of the best ways to eliminate the harmful effects of these incidents," he said.

"We should not only develop responses to untoward incidents but, more importantly, prevent oil spills from happening through enforcing and implementing laws that protect our marine environment from pollution," he added.

Punzalan also "shared that the PCG and the Directorate General for Sea Transportation (DGST) of the Republic of Indonesia forged a fraternal agreement to advocate multilateral cooperation to address major spillage in the Asian region."

The PCG quoted Indonesia's Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi as saying the regional Marpolex 2022 is held in the vicinity of waters off South Sulawesi strategically located in Indonesia archipelagic sea lanes.

It plays a critical role in connecting international and domestic shipping. It records high intensity of shipping operations, oil and gas activities, and other maritime operations in the Makassar waters, the PCG said, citing Sumadi.

"This certainly increases the risk of accidents resulting to oil spills that pollute and damage the marine environment. Thus, the preparedness of personnel and equipment is needed to overcome shipping disasters as assistance for the Makassar Strait area," Sumadi said.

During the exercise, participating vessels are expected to test and evaluate the effectiveness of the Sulawesi Sea oil spill response network plan and the current procedures of the oil spill recovery and response capability of Indonesia and the Philippines.

The participating Coast Guard are also expected to enhance cooperation and capability in firefighting, rescue, and oil spill recovery operations through planning, command and control, and the conduct of integrated operations during the drill. Robina Asido/DMS