Print
  1. Home
  2. Exercise Ningaloo Challenge

Exercise Ningaloo Challenge

In September 2017 the Western Australian Department of Transport ran Exercise Ningaloo Challenge, which was the largest and most complex maritime environmental emergency response exercise ever conducted in WA.

The exercise involved over 350 participants from around 35 organisations, including industry and the Commonwealth Government, who participated from locations in Canberra, Perth, Fremantle, and Exmouth.

The exercise was conducted from 11 to 14 September 2017; and simulated a Level 3 oil spill incident occurring in Commonwealth waters, with the oil spill spreading into Western Australian coastal waters.

The Commonwealth Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (DIIS) led a sub-exercise that was designed to evaluate the plans, processes and capabilities of the Commonwealth Government’s Offshore Petroleum Incident Coordination Committee (OPICC) and the DIIS Crisis Management Team (CMT).

The exercise provided useful experience for participants and successfully identified specific areas for further improvement to the DIIS’ Offshore Petroleum Incident Coordination Framework and the department’s CMT.

DIIS has published an Exercise Ningaloo Challenge Evaluation Report which includes:

  • an overview of the exercise and the objectives of the sub-exercise
  • an assessment of the OPICC and DIIS’ performance
  • recommendations to improve the DIIS’ offshore petroleum incident response arrangements
  • analysis by DIIS and options for continued improvement.

Last updated: 

Thursday 29 October 2020