09 December 2020EPPR and Arctic Coast Guard Forum are working together to make the Arctic a safer place through coordinated emergency preparedness. The Arctic Guardian Table-Top Exercise took place in a virtual format 27 October 2020, hosted by Iceland.What would happen if a cruise ship collided with a tanker in turbulent Arctic conditions off the coast of Iceland? Luckily this is a made-up scenario, but with an increase in Arctic tourism and shipping in Northern waters, it is not so difficult to foresee this situation playing out in real life. EPPR and the Arctic Coast Guard Forum joined forces virtually to exercise a response to the scenario in a table-top format. What are table-top exercises and why are they important? How do EPPR and the Arctic Coast Guard Forum work together to prepare for emergencies? We spoke with Dan Cowan, Chair of EPPR's Marine Environmental Response Expert Group MER EG and member of the Environmental Response Directorate for the Canadian Coast Guard about the recent joint table-top exercise.