Exercise 2002 was the fifth in a series of biennial oil spill response exercises. It was conducted under the auspices of Australia's National Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil and Other Noxious and Hazardous Substances. A focal point of the rescheduled exercise was a hypothetical discussion basd on a fictitious collision between and oil tanker and a bulk carrier in the Great North East Channel area of Torres Strait.