Keeping customers safe at the Port of Dover

Emergency services and key agencies from across Kent will take part in a major emergency exercise next month at the Port of Dover.

Staff from various organisations, volunteers and specialist equipment will be seen in action at Europe's busiest ferry port on Saturday 9th November dealing with a marine incident. The exercise will commence mid-Channel with an incident on a ferry heading for Dover. This will allow multi-agency emergency procedures to be extensively tested.

The Port will remain open throughout the exercise, which is being organised by the Port of Dover, the Kent Resilience Forum and a number of other partners as one of a number of significant exercises planned to examine multi-agency planning and preparedness at this critical UK gateway.

Tim Waggott, Chief Executive, Port of Dover, said: "Responsible for over 12-13 million passengers, almost 5 million vehicles and £80 billion of trade each year, such exercises are vital to ensuring that we can effectively and professionally deal with potential incidents in the best way possible for our customers and for UK plc. Working with our partners in Kent is extremely important to us and crucial to the resilience of our operations. We take the safety and security of the Port and our customers very seriously and such exercises are an essential part of that. I would very much like to thank all our business partners for their assistance."

P&O Ferries is providing a vessel in order that the exercise can be run as realistically as possible. Kent Police will be working together with Port of Dover Police in responding to the mock incident. Dover District Council will take responsibility for a Survivor Reception Centre in a nearby area to look after the affected customers (played by volunteers).

Nadeem Aziz, Chief Executive of Dover District Council said: "We are very pleased to be actively involved in this important exercise, and to be supporting this major partnership project. It is vital for the success of the Port and its role in both the immediate community and the wider district that we work effectively together and stay prepared."