The students at the Technical Secondary School in Koper, who participated in the At the School of Open Cohesion project last school year (2023/24), are still active in their local environment after project monitoring ended. They also went to put their findings into practice. They prepared a summary of their visit to Kapitanija.
THE FINAL STAGE OF THE AT THE SCHOOL OF OPEN COHESION PROJECT
On Tuesday, 19 November 2024, grade 4a students at the Technical Secondary School in Koper completed the final stage of monitoring the project Establishment of the Traffic Control and Maritime Crisis Management Centre of the Republic of Slovenia, where they put their findings into practice.
The project examined whether the establishment of the Traffic Control and Maritime Crisis Management Centre of the Republic of Slovenia has reduced the number of accidents and improved preparedness in the event of an emergency. In the framework of the international event, which took place on 2 and 3 October 2024 at the Slovenian Maritime Administration, the SARex 2024 international exercise was organised, which tested the operation of competent maritime search and rescue services in Italy (Italian Coast Guard), Croatia (Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Transport) and Slovenia (Slovenian Maritime Administration). We listened to Port Captain Aleš Rotar, who gave us an overview of the exercise, which illustrated the different incidents where the new Traffic Control and Maritime Crisis Management Centre of the Republic of Slovenia can successfully contribute to the rapid identification and resolution of emergencies. He stressed that it is very important to consider several factors, recognise the different winds that can facilitate or impair the search itself, and always consider the sea current. He also listed the different winds and explained how they work. He also told us that the drills were carried out by preparing five dummies with slips of paper attached to them with the type of incident. These dummies were freely released into the sea to simulate a real event and, as a result, to entrain the dummies as they would in a real event. The exercise took place in the wider area of the Gulf of Trieste and the Gulf of Koper. Various services (maritime police, army, Italian coastguard, Slovenian Maritime Administration) were mobilised for the search, making their vessels available for use. Most of the hours (7) were spent on the last dummy, which was carried by the sea current deep into the Gulf of Trieste. With the help of the Italian Coastguard and the activation of an additional search asset, a helicopter, the last dummy was successfully recovered. The entire exercise was coordinated by the new Maritime Traffic Control Centre.
We then took the Kapitanija boat for a tour of the area of the two harbour basins. The two harbour basins are strategically important, as their surveillance prevents the many accidents that could occur due to the massive cargo traffic of the Port of Koper and the cruise ships arriving in Koper. There is also a risk of anchoring, particularly due to the increasing size of ships and the shallow depth of the Gulf of Koper. Around 2,000 ships arrive in the port annually, of which around 90 are passenger ships.
We could also observe how some of the work of the Captain’s Office is carried out and see for ourselves that only with the help of state-of-the-art equipment, namely radars, electronic charts, cameras, and other technological equipment and programmes, can the safety of the Slovenian sea and the organisation of search and rescue operations at sea with the highest level of quality be ensured.
Photo: Technical Secondary School in Koper
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