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Case Studies - Recent Local Exercises

Exercise Collingwood/Exercise Bon Voyage

May/June 2005

Newcastle/Gateshead were chosen as host port for the third leg of the Tall Ships' Race that attracted up to 100 vessels from around 40 countries. The event attracted over 1.5 million people and involved 4000 young people who took part in the event.

An integral part of the formulation of the Tall Ships Event Plan were two multi-agency table top exercises, held in May and June, to look at the Tall Ships 'in-port' phase and the 'parade of sail' event. They were named Exercise Collingwood and Exercise Bon Voyage respectively, both exercises involved participation from all partner agencies including Sail Training International (STI), Port of Tyne Authority, local authorities and the Emergency Planning Unit. Both exercises were held at the Royal Navy Reserve HMS Calliope in Gateshead.

Objectives of the exercises:

• To establish relationships between personnel from partner agencies who will be working in close liaison during the event;

• To facilitate and promote the exchange of information, discussion of best practice and the development of mutual understanding in roles between participants;

• To encourage co-operation and co-ordination between partner agencies at an operational and tactical level;

• To test communication and liaison between partner agencies;

• To identify any anomalies with regard to the management and safety procedures within the draft Event Manual, prior to the event and to ensure that the appropriate action is taken post exercise;

• To raise awareness of the individual roles and responsibilities of each of the partner agencies involved in the event.

Both exercises successfully met their aim which was to validate management and safety procedures for the visit of the Tall Ships to Newcastle/Gateshead. The majority of participants supported the conduct, location, facilitation and pace of the exercises. The main outcomes of the exercises were the clarification of issues relating to command and control of various scenarios, along with a greater understanding of the roles and responsibilities of partner organisations.

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