'At 0600 on Friday, October 24, 1975, an oil tanker struck a submerged object off Studland Bay, Dorset, and 200 tons of oil spilled into the sea . . . . Miles of beaches, and marine and bird life, were threatened by what looked like a repeat of the Torrey Canyon disaster. . . .' It didn't actually happen, but it could do. So the Department of Trade envisaged the above scenario to test the facilities available to cope with oil spillage, a subject of obvious and increasing importance. Exercise 'Poolespill' involved HM Coastguard, Hampshire and Dorset County Councils, the Royal Marines, Police, and a number of tugs and Naval ships.

No oil was spilled, of course, paper being used to represent the drift of a slick. Of particular interest was the 1,000' long inflatable boom, which can be used in waves up to 8' high to contain oil slicks. Oil thus collected can be recovered by surface skimming devices.

Meanwhile, tugs, Naval ships and a hovercraft simulated the spraying of patches of oil with chemical dispersants.

Present at the exercise were the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Companies, Aviation and Shipping, Mr Stanley Clinton Davis, MP, and the Under Secretary, Marine Division, Mr J. N. Archer. They were taken to the exercise area by one of the RNLl'snewest lifeboats, Tony Vandervell, an Arun class boat shortly to go on station at Weymouth.

Landing at Poole Quay afterwards, the Minister saw a range of manufacturers' products designed to deal with oil spillage. Clearly, it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good, for much of the equipment is playing its role in Britain's export drive.

During a press conference at the RNLl's head office, the Minister made it clear that progress has been made in preventing accidents likely to cause oil spillage, and that there has been much technical advance in dealing with oil pollution when it does occur. Most of the equipment on display on the quay was unheard of at the time of the Torrey Canyon disaster, and chemical dispersants are far less toxic now.

Mr Clinton Davis, and the technical experts who accompanied him, felt that the exercise had been a worthwhile way to test the ability of different organisations to co-operate against oil pollution.

Indeed, the desirability of such exercises can hardly be denied, for in the same issue of a local newspaper which featured 'Poolespill', there appeared a brief report of a real oil slick off the Dorset coast.

The day concluded with the Minister being shown round the new RNLI headquarters in West Quay Road. Mr Clinton Davis expressed himself as most impressed with the design and layout of the building.—A.G..