On Thursday, September 16, 2021 in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, the 2nd Regional Workshop was held within the project Water Contingency Management in the Sava River Basin (WACOM).

The workshop "Preparation of the table-top exercise: Accident with spillage of a large amount of petroleum products from a vessel at Slavonski Brod location and action in a case of floods" was organized in cooperation with the Republic Administration of Civil Protection of the Republic of Srpska, Association for Risk Management AZUR, International Sava River Basin Commission, Ministry of the sea, traffic and infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia and Croatian Waters.

This regional workshop was organized with the aim of creating a starting point for the successful preparation and implementation of a simulation of the table-top exercise in case of accidents with spillage of large quantities of petroleum products from vessels at Slavonski Brod and flood operations, scheduled for May 2022. Workshop participants discussed a hypothetical event of a sudden oil spill from a vessel at Slavonski Brod and flood cases, the roles and cooperation of the competent institutions of the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and protocols for communication, decision making and complex response in such crisis situations. Within the workshop, the limitations and risks related to the successful implementation of the planned simulation of the table-top exercise at the Slavonski Brod location were also discussed.

In his introductory speech, the Information Officer of the Port of Slavonski Brod, Vjekoslav Janković, emphasized that the activities and success of the WACOM project are extremely important for the Port of Slavonski Brod, since a large influx of ships is expected in this part of the Sava River, which also increases a risk of certain sudden events and accidents on the river.

"The activities of the workshops within the WACOM project are very important since in the area of Slavonski Brod there is a transshipment of petroleum products, and in the immediate vicinity, in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina on the banks of the Sava River there is a Brod refinery. Given these circumstances, the joint cooperation of institutions and emergency services in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in preventing cases of oil spills into the Sava River and floods is crucial to prevent such situations, and if they do occur, as soon as possible repaired within the deadline ", said Vjekoslav Janković.

The project manager on behalf of the Republic Administration of Civil Protection of the Republic of Srpska, Danijela Ždrale, also emphasized the importance of international cooperation and encouraging the harmonization of civil protection mechanisms in the European Union.

"The Republic Administration of Civil Protection of the Republika Srpska, in partnership with the Association for Risk Management AZUR at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina, protects and saves people, material goods and the environment with operational measures, programming and prevention measures. The development of response mechanisms in emergency situations such as this includes the planning of simulations of table-top exercises and the development of applications and auxiliary simulation tools that are extremely important for the cooperation of institutions. Through international cooperation and harmonization of civil protection mechanisms in the European Union, we strive to improve our activities and make it as efficient as possible, both within the entities and the state, as well as in cross-border cooperation, "said Danijela Ždrale.

The event was covered by folowing media: 

HR: Agrobiz, Jutranji list; Ekovjesnik, Brodportal, Ekologija grada, Slavonija radio

BA: Frontal, Poslovne novine, Srpska info, Običan radio, Zivince, Gracija, Živince, Vijesti

All presentations are avaiable here.