While the exact nature of the 'accident'was not immediately clear, there were reports of extensive damage to all three vessels and injured passengers on board the cruise ship.

Teamwork was the key as the students responded to an ever changing scenario, continually affected by external factors beyond their control. Divided into teams, the students took on the roles of six sectors found within the Port of Harwich:

Passenger Bookings, Tourism and Media, Pilotage and Navigation, Buoyage, Docking, and Emergency Services.

Arranged in this way, the exercise gave students direct contact with personnel from different employment sectors within the maritime and logistics industries, giving them the opportunity to learn about job roles and responsibilities and develop skills in teamwork, time management, cooperation and communication.

The Sea Port role play day, set up by Essex Education Business Partnership, was adapted from the model of the British Airports Authority role play day and was designed to make students aware of the growing employment opportunities within the Haven Gateway and, more particularly, the career sectors found within the Port of Harwich.

Richard Morton, Haven Gateway's project manager said, 'We were really impressed by how well the students got to grips with the problems and came up with workable solutions.

While handling the situation in this desk based exercise, the pupils learned about the ports and maritime industry and gained a better understanding of the opportunities open to them. This fits well with our campaign to raise the profile of the very important maritime and logistics sector in the Haven Gateway sub-region.'

At the end of the exercise the teams were assessed on how they responded to the incident and on a five minute presentation each team made to representatives of the Haven Gateway Partnership. The winning Group 5 was, like all the groups, made up of a mix of students from the six schools taking part.

MJ Information No: 21539