The largest oil spill exercise ever mounted in Bermuda got under way yesterday.

On the first day of the Exercise Weatherbird simulation, scientists, engineers and staff from all Government departments converged on St. George's after early morning reports of a tanker "run aground''.

Watching the events unfold were Governor Thorold Masefield and other VIPs from Caribbean nations and the United States.

The scenario involved the grounding in the narrows off St. George's of a tanker, on its way to Bermuda with 14,500 of heavy fuel oil on board. Some 1,400 tonnes leak from the vessel.

Coordination for the exercise took place at Harbour Radio, where officials monitored the flow of the `oil' towards the coast. The oil was actually a coloured liquid poured from tanks in to the sea.

Commanders Dr. Tom Sleeter and Ron Ross deployed staff to Fort St.

Catherine's, Achilles Bay and Coot Pond. There, boat crews began dropping sections of a mile-long boom into the water. It was the first time the boom had been used in its entirety and before long a thin yellow line could be seen bobbing in the water off Tobacco Bay and the former Club Med beach. Tourists sunbathed and swam in the water, oblivious to the "drama'' unfolding around them. Marine and Ports boss Ron Ross said the three-day event was a major regional exercise for the South America and Caribbean areas.

The Emergency Measures Organisation, under the direction of the Deputy Governor Peter Willis, can call upon any government department for help in the event of a disaster.

And combined with staff from the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Esso and Shell, they ran the exercise as if it were the real thing, calling upon staff from the US Coastguard and the Clean Caribbean Cooperative for additional assistance.

Once the boom was in position, protecting the shoreline, then the clean-up operation could begin. More exercises are due to be held today.

ENVIRONMENT ENV