Drifting in the ocean

1.    What is the link to Crisis Management?

The tsunami that occurred last year was a devastating natural disaster. Fear was raised

In those who live in the surrounding area that radiation, which is undetected and is airborne would travel and affect those in Japan. At the extreme, some experts were saying this could be the next Chernobyl, which raised fears that if the radiation effects were bad enough, they could affect everyone in surrounding areas through wind travel.  Now that an entire vessel has been spotted in the British Columbia coast identified as coming from Hokkaido, more concerns of what other debris might be travelling in the water.

2.    What stage of Crisis Management does the system appear to be at?

The system seems to be at the issues stage since this specific vessel has no environmental damage and is believed that no one is on board the ship.  However, the vessel does pose a potential navigational hazard to those travelling in the coast and therefore they need to be warned.

For those who are concerned of debris in the ocean or airborne issues of radiation, this would be at a risk stage since this is one of the first boats that have been spotted in the British Columbia coast.

3.    How well does the system appear to be handling the situation?

The system seems to handling the situation appropriately.  The federal government has issued a warning out to mariners about the vessel. Further, they are informing the public about this through the paper, which is important for individuals to know about what has happened even though the earthquake happened over a year ago.

4.    What level of crisis preparedness does the system appear to have?

The system would be given a 2.5/5 for preparedness. It seems that there is a joint rescue co-ordination center that has been contracted by the federal government to spot debris like this. However, given they have identified as much as five million tonnes of debris were swept in the ocean, there isn’t really a plan in place (or at least not mentioned) to deal with this. In this instance there was no bodies. However, given there are still people missing, there is a possibility that a body would be swept up into the coast.

5.    What personal reactions/feelings does the description trigger in you?

I was surprised that an entire vessel travelled from Japan to British Columbia. Having followed the case with the earthquake in Japan closely last year, there was talk of air travel with radiation being picked up with the ocean’s wind current. Now that an entire vessel has made its way to Canada, I wouldn’t be surprised if radiation affects also us here. Perhaps not to the extent that are harmful at this point, but no doubt if there as an earthquake that caused the next Chernobyl, I would be concerned with what is traveling across bodies of water and through the air.

6.    What advice would you offer to those involved?

My advice would be to communicate a crisis management plan in the even that within the debris there is a plan to deal with any higher risk item such as a dead body, in a vessel or uncontained that has brushed up onto shore, what harboring diseases they are looking into as well as what effects airborne issues have. The public would want to know and be rest assured that they there is someone in place or a department that are looking at the risk factors and issues that could arise from these natural disasters. 


Article Source: 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/boat-linked-to-japans-earthquake-tsunami-drifts-toward-bc-shore/article2380212/