Pollution response exercise: ORSEC POL-EN-SEINE 26

On 6 May 2026, as part of the ORSEC POL-EN-SEINE 26 exercise, which simulated a collision between an oil tanker and a container ship off the coast of Cap de la Hève, the Drift Committee (CODER), led by CEDRE in collaboration with Meteo-France, Ifremer and Shom, met to monitor and analyse the drift of a simulated oil spill. Eight buoys were deployed in the Bay of Seine, including four in the accident zone, with the support of CEPPOL, which was present in the area. Their trajectories enabled the models used to be compared and recalibrated, as would have been done in a real-life situation based on observations of the pollution. The aim was also to assess the potential contribution of artificial intelligence to modelling and forecasting the drift of oil slicks at sea, as a complement to conventional approaches. The data from the buoys will be used both to validate the forecasts produced by the AI models and to feed into their learning process in order to gradually improve their performance.