MARINE crews from the Port Authority of New South Wales have undergone firefighting training to prepare for the event of an on-water emergency.
The specialised training will ensure around 80 marine workers are equipped to respond to fires and marine pollution incidents.
Port Authority of New South Wales CEO Philip Holliday said any incident involving a fire at sea requires a rapid response by the port authority’s teams.
“Thankfully these incidents are few and far between but when they do occur our crews need to be fully trained to respond quickly to save lives and property, and to protect our marine environment,” Mr Holliday said.
He said the Port Authority of New South Wales is the lead responder to maritime incidents including fires and oil spills in coastal waters stretching up to three nautical miles out to sea from Fingal Head, Port Stephens, and Gerroa.
“We work closely with our colleagues at Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Water Police and Transport for NSW (maritime),” Mr Holliday said.
“Earlier this year our crews played a vital role in suppressing a fire from the water side when it broke out at a Drummoyne location.”
Sarah Marshall, the port authority’s general manager of Sydney operations, said the highly trained emergency response teams regularly respond to reports of marine pollution.
She said they also carry out thousands of safety audits of vessels transferring potentially dangerous goods such as bulk oil, gas, and chemicals.
“It’s vital our workforce has the capability to provide an effective response to on-water fire and other maritime incidents,” Ms Marshall said.
“Port Authority operates a fleet of specialised vessels and equipment used for firefighting, oil spill response and vessel assistance.”
