Spill response exercise: ORSEC POL-EN-SEINE 26

On 6 May 2026, the Drift Committee (CODER), led by CEDRE in conjunction with Météo-France, Ifremer and Shom, met to monitor and analyse the drift of a fictitious oil spill as part of the ORSEC POL-EN-SEINE 26 exercise, which simulated a collision between an oil tanker and a container ship off Cap de la Hève. Eight buoys were deployed in the Bay of Seine, including four in the incident area, with the support of CEPPOL, present on site. Based on their trajectories, the models used were compared and adjusted, in the same way as for real spills based on slick observations. The aim was also to assess the potential contribution of artificial intelligence to the modelling and forecasting of oil slick drift at sea, in addition to conventional approaches. The data collected from the buoys will be used both to validate the forecasts produced by the AI models and as input for their training, in order to progressively improve their performance.