Panama Canal Practices Emergency Oil Spill Techniques

Oil spill emergency response teams gathered at the Panama Canal to attend the sixth International Mobilization, Preparedness & Response Exercise, held Dec. 4-6. During the event, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) worked with various non-profits to test its emergency response system in affiliation with local and international organizations. MOBEX’s goal is to evaluate the Canal’s response mechanism for large oil spill accidents and measure the ACP’s ability to alleviate the environmental effects and protect those in the surrounding area. This was the first year Panama hosted the event, held in different countries every three years.