International Exercise on the Prevention of Marine Pollution

On February 4, 2026, a press conference was held in Trieste as part of the ASAP (Adriatic Sensitive Areas Protection) project, organized by the CEI (Central European Initiative) and the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics.

The press conference was intended to present the project’s current achievements and events. Robert Škrokov, a representative of the Maritime Administration, emphasized as one of the speakers that macro-regional cooperation in the Adriatic-Ionian region is of great importance and that participation in international projects brings numerous benefits and opportunities.

He presented the two-day event “POLex 2026,” which will be hosted and organized by the Slovenian Maritime Administration on September 23 and 24, 2026, as part of the ASAP project. The international marine pollution prevention exercise will take place in the northern Adriatic, within the territorial waters of the Republic of Slovenia. The exercise scenario will involve Slovenian search and rescue forces, who will be assisted at the international level by European security agencies and the national forces of other Adriatic countries. The exercise scenario will be based on a large-scale hydrocarbon spill at sea and will incorporate recommendations for improvements derived from the evaluation of the previous exercise, conducted in the fall of 2025 in Dubrovnik. Standard operating procedures will be tested, and specialized equipment will also be used to ensure the exercise’s success. Experts from countries in the Adriatic-Ionian region will be invited to participate, and the provision of response equipment is encouraged and welcome. The main objective of the exercise is to test the readiness, response capabilities, and coordination of national and cross-border cooperation among the participating countries.

In the coming months, preparatory steps will be finalized within the partnership, and a detailed exercise scenario will be developed.