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Preparations underway for EU Flood Command conference 9-10 May 2007,
A pioneering EU co-funded project to promote the innovative use of multi-national maritime search and rescue (SAR) resources when dealing with major coastal inundation, caused by events such as tsunamis and tidal surges, was launched earlier this year. The BAPCO Journal reports on the project, highlighting the forthcoming conference, planned for 9-10 May 2007…
EU FloodCommand is a joint UK, Irish and Swedish project aimed at raising awareness and providing a framework for closer co-operation in the use of maritime SAR for civil protection through the sharing of information and the development of systems and protocols. The objective is to create a European Maritime SAR Response Module - improving capacity, speed and effectiveness of response for dealing with major coastal inundation disasters. Although the Pilot Project core partners are from the UK (Maritime and Coastguard Agency), Sweden (Swedish Rescue Services Agency) and Ireland (Irish Coast Guard), EU FloodCommand is designed to be multinational, with maximum participation and dissemination throughout the European Union being achieved by a programme of conferences, workshops and exercises, alongside a technology development program which will put in place an Extranet for the alerting, deployment and tasking of Maritime Search and Rescue assets.
The EU FloodCommand technology development programme will support the development and exercising of an Extranet system for the co-ordination and tasking of maritime search and rescue (SAR) assets in response to coastal inundation flooding events. The technology development partner selected for the project, and the company which will also be responsible for programme and conference management, is UK-based international emergency services technology and consulting company VectorCommand Ltd.
Commenting on the announcement, Peter Tallantire from the UK Civil Contingencies Secretariat said, “The Civil Contingencies Secretariat of the Cabinet Office welcomes the successful bid led by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency for EU funding to explore ways in which maritime search and rescue units in different European Union states can work together more effectively to save lives.”
The conference
Preparations are now under way for the EU FloodCommand initial Conference and Workshop, which will be held in the UK in the second week of May 2007. The conference will involve stakeholder organisations from all EU nations with either Maritime SAR assets or coastal/tidal flooding concerns, and is being held to research and define the programme requirements.
In a press statement, announcing the project, John Astbury, Chief Executive of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said, “This is an excellent opportunity to enhance cross border cooperation significantly in response to major flooding events and the MCA looks forward to co-operating with our Swedish and Irish partners in the project.”
Eamon Torpay from the Irish Coast Guard added, “The Irish Coast Guard welcomes the opportunity to be involved in this important EU programme. We are very pleased to be involved with the Swedish administration and the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and the company involved in leading the project, VectorCommand.”
A further comment was made by Magnus Qvant, of the Swedish Rescue Services Agency College, Revinge, who stated, “The Swedish Rescue Services Agency College is very pleased to support the EU Flood Command Project. We are participating in this project with our full competence and resources. We are also doing everything we can do to engage the Swedish maritime rescue organisations in this project designed to promote understanding and co-operation. We are convinced that the EU FloodCommand Project will create a mutual platform for assistance when a major coastal inundation occurs.”
The project
The technical team from VectorCommand will take the conference outputs and work with subject matter experts from the Partners and other key stakeholders to design and build a prototype system for the co-ordination and tasking of maritime SAR assets in response to coastal inundation flooding events.
The prototype system will be trialed at an initial exercise held in the UK during August 2007, and attended by control room and strategic command teams from all partners. The exercise will use simulation technology (including flood inundation modelling) to explore existing command, control and communication arrangements, and to see to what extent the prototype system can support the generation of a Maritime SAR response module.
Using the feedback, debrief and evaluation data from the initial exercise, the VectorCommand technical team in conjunction with partner subject matter experts and key stakeholders will then develop the prototype system into a fully functional coordination system including a full resource database of all maritime SAR assets held.
Concluding, Jeremy Azis, Managing Director of VectorCommand Ltd said, “VectorCommand Ltd is honoured to have been selected as the technology partner and programme manager for the EU FloodCommand project. Our company has a well established reputation as a trusted supplier of robust and secure high technology systems for training, simulation and operations for a fast growing number of governmental and emergency service clients. This includes multi-agency, homeland security and corporate clients in the UK and around the world. Our business has grown because of our in-depth knowledge and experience of the demanding requirements of our clients markets, our domain knowledge of the organisational and technological challenges faced by our clients, and the quality of our technical expertise and solutions. Our company has also been responsible for the organisation of a large number of successful international conferences. All these resources will be committed to delivering on the agreed objectives of this important and prestigious European Union project.”
Fast facts
The conference will be held in the UK on the 9th and 10th of May 2007, and will involve a programme of keynote speakers interspersed with syndicate workshop sessions to explore particular issues.
Each Member State is invited to send up to 10 delegates to the conference. The lead agency on Maritime Search & Rescue (where applicable) has been written to separately and asked to form part of the delegation, however it is expected that each national delegation will also include representatives from other organisations, for example:
Representatives of the Competent Authority for Civil Protection
Representatives of the national organisation responsible for Flood Response
Representatives of other national organisations contributing to Flood Response
Representatives of Local Government from areas under threat from coastal inundation disasters
