CEPPOL celebrates its 30th anniversary

The creation of CEPPOL (Centre of Practical Expertise in Pollution Response) was triggered by the Amoco Cadiz disaster.

The wrecking of this oil tanker off the coast of Brittany in 1978 remains etched in people’s minds as one of the worst oil spills in history.

In the aftermath of this disaster, France was keen to improve response to the issue of pollution at sea and thus created, 30 years ago, a study commission in charge of optimising knowledge of risks and proposing suitable means to combat such pollution.

This unit of the French Navy was set up in Brest and drew upon the naval base’s pollution response unit which deployed the equipment.

CEPPOL provides the maritime authorities with its expertise and advises them in terms of pollution response.

In order to test CEPPOL’s teams and procedures, many exercises are organised all year round, simulating vessels in difficulty presenting a pollution risk at sea.

On Thursday 22 January 2009, the commission, which was renamed last July the Centre of Practical Expertise in Pollution Response (CEPPOL), met onboard the OSRV Argonaute to celebrate its 30th anniversary in the company of its former presidents. The day was first of all the opportunity to recall the disasters which marked the last three decades: the wrecking of the Erika, the Prestige, or more recently the Rokia Delmas; but also to highlight the many innovations put forward by CEPPOL to combat maritime pollution.

The wide range of risks, the increase in international maritime traffic and the growing number of giant cargo ships are some of the reasons which impel CEPPOL to continue to develop its research and experimentation in order to preserve the marine environment from such threats.

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	Voir l'article de la Premar avec photos
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	Voir la vidéo des 30 ans