28 April 2026EPPR Case Study Webinar Series “Iced Coffee” kicked off 14 February 2026 with a Canadian Coast Guard hosted session on the MSC Baltic III Incident Response. The webinar series will continue with a second Canadian-led session in May 2026. The Iced Coffee series is a set of short informative webinars hosted by EPPR providing insights across various emergency management topics.Incidents such as the grounding of the MSC Baltic III present various challenges. However, situations like these are important to learn from. EPPR hosted the first webinar of a new case study series led by Canada on the 14th of April 2026. The inaugural webinar gathered 100 participants from Arctic States, Permanent Participants, and Observers. The hour-long format includes expert presentations and a possibility for questions and discussion. EPPR is looking forward to continuing the series to increase awareness, knowledge-sharing and capacity building regarding Arctic emergencies. The presenters of the webinar were: Harvey Vardy, Regional Director of Response-Atlantic Region, Canadian Coast Guard Vanessa Beaulac, Manager, Emergencies Science and Technology Section, Environment and Climate Change Canada Major Pete Wright, 103 Search and Rescue Squadron, Canadian Joint Operations Command, Canadian Armed Forces On the 15th of February 2025, container ship MSC Baltic III reported complete blackout. The vessel ran aground in Cedar Cove, on the west coast of Newfoundland, Canada. There were 20 crew members on board, including two reportedly injured. At first sight, factors such as harsh weather conditions, size and contents of the vessel, and the extent of damage created gloomy prospects for search and rescue (SAR) operations, and marine environmental and hazards response (MEHR). Nevertheless, all 20 crew members were safely evacuated shortly after the grounding. In addition, the ongoing response has provided valuable insights in how coordination and collaboration of actors can be key for success. The session presented the ongoing response where the Canadian Coast Guard has assumed incident command with the National Environmental Emergency Centre of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) providing scientific and technical support. One main success of the operation has been its partnerships. For example, the collaborative partnership between the MEHR and ECCC contributed to novel approaches in support of research of oil fate and trajectory modelling. The presentation specifically highlighted the utility of tracker buoy deployment for nearshore current validation, and real-time weathering of oil recovered from the vessel at the Environment Canada Oil Spill Simulator facility with subsequent chemical and physical analysis informing models.
Arctic Council Working Group