According to the simulated scenario, a Flycam drone flying in the airspace above Petrolimex Quang Ninh's oil storage facility lost control and collided with the vent valve of an oil tank. The incident generated sparks, igniting a fire and causing an explosion of the oil vapor mixture, which damaged a section of the tank’s roof and caused flames on the tank’s surface. The explosion destroyed the cooling water spray system around the tank wall and the fixed foam system, rendering them inoperable.
At the same time, a Petrolimex 15 vessel was docked at the company’s port, pumping gasoline via a pipeline into the K130 Petroleum Storage Enterprise’s tank. When the fire and explosion broke out, the blaze threatened to spread to the pipeline system. The operations team promptly isolated the vessel from the company’s fuel import system. However, due to hasty and improper handling, the disconnection was performed incorrectly, leading to coupling disengagement, resulting in approximately 3 cubic meters of gasoline spilling onto the wharf and ultimately causing an oil spill.
The exercise posed high demands in resolving a series of difficult and complex situations, involving the participation of thousands of personnel and the use of vehicles and modern equipment, including firefighting robots.
The fire prevention exercise was divided into four phases. In the first phase, information about the fire was reported, specialized firefighting forces were mobilized for the initial response, people and property were evacuated, and notifications were made to relevant authorities. The second phase involved personnel and equipment from the Quang Ninh Fire Prevention and Rescue Police conducting firefighting and rescue operations. In the third phase, provincial coordinating units joined and participated in the operations. Finally, reinforcements of vehicles and personnel from the police forces of neighboring provinces and cities joined the exercise, while a joint operation was launched to completely extinguish the fire.
After 45 minutes, the large-scale exercise was successfully completed as planned. According to the assessment of the Steering Committee and the Organizing Board, the participating forces closely coordinated, effectively operated mechanisms realistically, carried out practical field exercises, and successfully handled situations in accordance with the proposed plan, ensuring absolute safety.
In this exercise, the Quang Ninh Provincial Military Command deployed 42 personnel, two ships, two boats, and one vehicle. At the end of the exercise, all personnel and equipment ensured absolute safety.
Translated by Huyen Trang – Thu Ha