Government and business leaders attend workshop

Jennifer Nugent-Hill of Tropical Shipping, spoke on
disaster recovery.

Emile Hamilton, Sales Manager of Thompson Line,
Rick Murrell, President of Tropical Shipping,
Donovan Ebanks, Chairman of the Hurricane
Committee, Jennifer Nugent-Hill, Assistant Vice-
President of Tropical Shipping, Kirkland Nixon,
Chief Fire Officer, and Bing Thompson, Head of
Thompson Shipping.

Monday,  August 15, 2005

Mitigation, preparation, response and recovery were the focus of the Disaster Management Workshop, which was hosted by Tropical Shipping and Thompson Shipping at the Courtyard Grand Cayman on 19 August.

The head of Thompson Shipping, Wilbur (Bing) Thompson, said one of the workshop goals was to bring all the major players on the Island together so if there is another major event like Hurricane Ivan, operations will run more smoothly. He explained how clogged up the distribution system became in the aftermath of the storm.

“Overnight the flow of trucks, containers, and ships doubled and we were already a little bit busy,” said Mr Thompson. “The whole system was over-burdened. There was not enough ships, or space at the Port Authority or cranes to take off cargo or warehouse space.

“And there wasn’t electricity to keep food fresh. The whole distribution system was clogged.

“It is a minor miracle that we have recovered this much in nine months. But it is a sad fact that the whole thing might happen again.”

Jennifer Nugent-Hill, Assistant Vice President of Public and Governmental Affairs of Tropical Shipping, explained the four phases of a good disaster plan are mitigation, preparation, response and recovery.

“If we can identify the four phases of the plan, we can prepare to respond to any disaster and minimise problems,” said Ms Nugent-Hill. “It is all about preparation. Not just for hurricanes, but any disaster.”

She discussed conducting a hazard analysis including assigning probabilities to possible hazards and emergencies and estimating the impact on people property and business. Moreover, internal and external resources should be assessed.

Ms Nugent-Hill explained that throughout the 2004 hurricane season, Tropical Shipping’s customers and employees in the Caribbean including the Cayman Islands experienced major devastation.

Florida took four direct hits and Tropical Shipping’s port at Palm Beach was hit by two major hurricanes within one month.

She added that Tropical Shipping plans also plans for manmade disasters including terrorist and bio-terrorist activities. It is also a member of the US Customs and Border Protection programs that provides a high level of security for cargo.

Furthermore, it requires customers to double-seal its cargo with high security container seals after loading containers exporting and importing consumable food, beverages, tobacco and pharmaceuticals.

Numerous members of Government, utilities, and business community attended the workshop including the Chairman of the National Hurricane Committee, Donovan Ebanks and Chief Fire Officer Kirkland Dixon.

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