IMO says discussions on oil pollution prevention, preparedness and response took centre stage last week (20-24 May) at the latest edition of Spillcon 2019 in Perth, Australia.
The forum included sessions on cause and prevention, response management and environmental issues.
A raft of high calibre national and international speakers addressed the conference on their particular areas of expertise. However, this year, the audience also invited 12 to 15 years olds to join the event to learn more about issues related to environmental protection, oil and chemical pollution, preparedness and response. The curious students took part in a range of activities prepared by IMO to educate them on the issue.
Other senior participants at the conference gained knowledge with a view to improving their respective technical competencies and developing capacity at the national level.
Spillcon, which is part of a conference series partly organized by IMO, enhances regional and global knowledge on the issues surrounding global oil spill. The Conferences also provided a venue for international experts in oil spill prevention, preparedness, response and restoration to share information in a common forum.
IMO sponsored 10 participants from Asia and the Pacific to attend the event (Federate States of Micronesia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Malaysia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Timor Leste, Tonga).