MAY 12, 2017--During the week of May 8, OR&R participated in Pacific Partnership 2017 in Da Nang, Vietnam.

The mission of this annual maritime operation is to help improve disaster response preparedness while enhancing partnerships with participating nations throughout the Indo-Pacific region. The partnership began in response to the catastrophic December 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of Southeast Asia. The mission, which is led by the U.S. Navy, includes more than 600 military and civilian personnel from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea.

NOAA OR&R’s Emergency Response Division presented at the Symposium on Capacity Building for Oil Spill Response, sponsored by USCG PACAREA as part of this year’s mission. Over 50 participants from Vietnam natural resource, military and local government agencies attended the symposium. The group also visited an oil refinery at the My Khe petrol import and export port owned by the Petrolimex Company and conducted a joint spill response exercise.
Other components of the Pacific Partnership mission this year include medical and civil-engineering teams conducting civil-action projects, community health exchanges, medical symposiums, and humanitarian and disaster relief drills.

For more information, contact Ruth.Yender@noaa.gov.

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