In mid-September, Marcus Lisbôa, ARPEL representative in Brazil for response issues to environmental emergencies and oil spills, gave a course on “First Response to Incidents of Oil Spills and Incident Command System (ICS)".

Among other technical issues, Lisbôa made reference to the Manual and Tool to Assess Hydrocarbon Spill Management Capacity - RETOS, in addition to other guides developed by ARPEL.

The objective of RETOS is to help governments and companies to evaluate their level of planning management and preparation for the response to hydrocarbon spills in relation to pre-established criteria in common agreement considering the best international management practices.

The Manual and tables are available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. https://arpel.org/library/publication/341/

The purpose of the training was to improve knowledge on actions to combat and respond to environmental emergencies in bodies of water, with a certain emphasis on the transport of hydrocarbons.

The agenda also included addressing contingency plans from various countries; the use of chemical dispersants to combat offshore pollution; the main international conventions aimed at preventing pollution and the safety of the sea; the main international pollution control centers in Brazil and in the world, as well as case studies of the main accidents that have occurred to date.

Lisbôa has a degree in Nautical Sciences and a Postgraduate Degree in Environment.