MULTINATIONAL SEARCH & RESCUE EXERCISE
CONDUCTED AT JRCC LARNACA
«NEMESIS 1/2014»
It is jointly announced that the first phase of the multinational search and Rescue (SAR) exercise “NEMESIS 2014”, in which the Republic of Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and the United States of America participated, took place on Wednesday, the 26th of February 2014. In this phase, a table-top exercise was conducted involving countering terrorist attacks on ships and oil rigs; search & rescue operations; and sea pollution within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Cyprus and the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean.
In total, 65 executives and officers participated. The Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) Larnaca undertook the overall coordination and organization of the exercise and also 22 other agencies of various Ministries of the Republic of Cyprus attended. The other participating countries were represented by high ranking civilian and military officials coming from their competent agencies. Company executives of Noble Energy International Ltd., EDT Offshore Ltd, and Italian energy company ENI Cyprus also attended the table-top exercise as observers.
The upcoming exercise, which will take place in the near future involving both ships and aircraft, seeks to develop effective cooperation between the JRCC Larnaca, all the involved agencies of the Republic of Cyprus, and neighboring and friendly states, in order to respond to emergency situations on ships and oil rigs as well as other humanitarian operations in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The findings of this exercise will be examined in order to further improve the cooperation between the relevant agencies and organizations of the four participating states, based on the international regulations of the International Maritime Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the European Union.
