A large-scale aeronautical multinational exercise, code-named “NEMESIS – 2016”, will take place today for the third consecutive year within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Cyprus.
According to an announcement by the Ministry of Defence, the exercise will be held with the participation of SAR Units and Personnel from Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, the United Kingdom and the United States of America as well as the M/V «ALEXANDRIA» of Petronav from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the support vessels of EDT Offshore.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) Larnaca will be coordinating the exercise in collaboration with the respective agencies from the Republic of Cyprus and the participating nations.
The main objective of the aeronautical exercise is to further develop the effective cooperation and coordination of JRCC Larnaca and respective agencies of the Republic of Cyprus with neighboring and friendly States on the prompt response on emergency situations on board merchant vessels and oil/gas platforms as well as other humanitarian operations in the Eastern Mediterranean region
The exercise scenario includes boarding operations by navy vessels and Special Forces, counter-terrorism operations on an oil/gas platform by the Cyprus Police QRF, mass rescue operations following a maritime accident by naval and air units of Cyprus and friendly nations and counter pollution operations within the area of responsibility of the Republic of Cyprus by the Departments of Fisheries and Merchant Shipping and the participation of a specialized ship from the European Maritime Safety Agency.
During the exercise, the corresponding special plans of the Republic and the existing bilateral SAR agreements with neighboring and friendly States will be implemented as well.
NEMESIS 2016 will be conducted in parallel with the second EUROSAR Task Force Meeting which will be held at the JRCC between the 11th and 14th of October with the participation of representatives from 15 countries and 4 International Organizations. The meeting aims to establish Regional Cooperation in Europe.
To that end, exercise NEMESIS serves as a practical example of such cooperation, thus the attendees will observe the exercise and analyze the lessons learnt.
CNA
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