EcoCanal 2019, Panama

ITOPF attended the annual EcoCanal seminar and exercise at the Panama Canal from 30th July – 2nd August, jointly organised by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the US National Response Team (NRT). This year’s event focused on containership incidents and was attended by approximately 80 representatives from the Canal and various Panamanian and US government agencies.

Richard Johnson gave a presentation on ITOPF’s experiences of international container ship incidents and was an observer at the exercise which simulated a collision resulting in an oil spill and the loss of containers with dangerous goods.

The ACP welcomed ITOPF’s feedback and expressed interest in strengthening the collaborative relationship between the two organisations going forward.