Busan City Conducts Joint Marine Safety Accident Response Drill with 12 Related Agencies

On the 16th at 1 PM, Busan City will conduct a joint maritime accident response drill simulating a complex disaster situation involving a ship collision and fire on the waters in front of Busan Harbor Bridge, together with related agencies including the Busan Maritime Police Station, the Namhae Regional Maritime Police Agency, and the Central Maritime Special Rescue Unit.

Inspection location (in front of Jung-gu Tourism Information Center).

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The drill date, April 16, marks the 10th anniversary of the Sewol ferry disaster. This exercise was organized to commemorate the 'National Safety Day' established in memory of the Sewol tragedy and to emphasize the importance of maritime safety within the broader safety sector.

The drill is jointly hosted by the city and the maritime police, with participation from 12 organizations including the Busan Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office, Busan Police Agency, Busan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, Busan Port Authority, Korea Marine Environment Corporation, Busan Branch of the Korea Maritime Rescue Association, and Jung-gu Public Health Center.

This drill was planned based on a ship-bridge collision accident that occurred in March in the Baltimore area, USA, which raised awareness of such risks.

In the scenario, a fictional passenger ship named Safetyho loses power for unknown reasons while entering Busan Port International Passenger Terminal, becomes uncontrollable, collides with a pier of Busan Harbor Bridge, and drifts. Related agencies then respond to the complex disaster situation involving the rescue of drifting persons and firefighting on the ship, enhancing the realism and completeness of the drill.

The detailed drill proceeds in four stages. ▲Stage 1 (Accident occurrence and report reception) involves receiving reports and disseminating information about the passenger ship accident ▲Stage 2 (On-site dispatch and rescue) has maritime police and fire safety agencies urgently dispatched to the accident site to rescue persons drifting in the water using rescue boats and helicopters ▲Stage 3 (Entry and rescue inside the ship) involves the rescue team entering and searching the accident ship to rescue those in need ▲Stage 4 (Fire suppression and towing) uses fire hoses and other equipment to extinguish the ship fire caused by the collision and concludes with towing the ship.

Notably, Mayor Park, along with the Chief of the Namhae Regional Maritime Police Agency and the Chief of the Busan Maritime Police Station, will directly observe the on-site drill from a maritime police vessel.

It is expected to be an opportunity to share real-time disaster response know-how among agencies and to review a comprehensive cooperative system prepared for various maritime accidents.

Additionally, immediately after the maritime drill, Mayor Park plans to personally inspect the safety status of Yeongdo Bridge, Busan’s first land-connecting bridge and South Korea’s first bascule movable bridge, to oversee the safety management of major bridge facilities.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun emphasized, “Since the Sewol ferry disaster, our society has re-recognized the importance of disaster safety management and has taken on a heavier responsibility for the public role in social disasters.” He added, “Through this first-ever realistic joint drill in Busan’s history, we expect the comprehensive and close joint response capabilities of related agencies to various maritime safety accidents to be further enhanced.”

“No matter how much it is emphasized, awareness of citizen safety can never be overstated. Through this drill, we reaffirm this awareness and Busan will take the lead in making South Korea a country where the safety of the people is the top priority at any place and any time,” he added.

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