The multinational exercise “NEMESIS 2022”, concluded on Thursday in 9 blocks of the Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone and included counter-terrorism scenarios on a hydrocarbon platform, boarding operations on suspicious boats, air-evacuation of trapped and injured persons, mass rescue operation as a result of the abandonment of the platform, as well as anti-pollution operations.
A total of 8 countries participated in the exercise which took place in blocks 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13 of the Cyprus’ EEZ.
Aeronautical assets and personnel from Cyprus, Greece, France, the UK, the USA, Israel, Italy and Egypt, as well as of 3 private companies and the European Services (EMSA) European Maritime Safety Agency and the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) participated in the exercise.
Minister of Defence Charalambos Petrides with the Ambassadors and Defence Attaches of the participating countries watched part of the exercise’s scenario from Joint Rescue Coordination Center’s (JRCC) premises in Larnaca.
The exercise, an JRCC press release says, is part of the preparation of all government services, which are involved in the implementation of the energy program of the Republic of Cyprus, with the aim to be ready and prepared to deal with any emergency incident on hydrocarbon extraction platforms.
The overall coordination of the exercise was under the JRCC, in collaboration with the Deputy Ministry of Shipping, the National Guard, the Cyprus Police and the Department of Fisheries.
For the successful execution of the scenarios, Cyprus implemented and tested 3 Special National Plans (SNPs) included in the National Master Plan of the Republic “ZENON”, the SNP “ASPIDA” (shield) of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order for the counter-terrorism operations, the SNP “TEFKROS” of the Ministry of Defense for the mass search and rescue operations and the SNP “ORPHEAS” of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment for the anti-pollution operations.
The results of the exercise and the field-testing of the SNPs, will be evaluated and accordingly handled by the involved agencies, to further improve the procedures applied for dealing with distress situations that may occur during the implementation of the energy program of the Republic of Cyprus.
Overall, in the exercise participated 7 assets from foreign countries, 12 assets and services of the Republic of Cyprus, 3 private companies and 2 international organisations. Particularly, participants consisted of 1 Frigate of the Greek Navy, 1 “C-130” Aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, the French Maritime Operations Aircraft “ATLANTIQUE”, 1 helicopter of 84 SQUADRON of the United Kingdom, 1 Italian “P-72” Aircraft, 1 OPV of the Italian Coast Guard and 1 American ”P-8” aircraft.
The Republic of Cyprus participated with 5 warships of the Navy Command of the General Staff of National Guard, 2 Helicopters of 460 MED / National Guard), 1 UAV of 470 Airforce Command / National Guard, 1 Helicopter of the CPAU, 1 Aircraft of the Forestry Department and 2 patrol boats of the Port and Marine Police.
Additionally, the “ALEXANDRIA” tanker of “PETRONAV” company, financed by EMSA, as well as 1 boat of EDT Offshore company participated in the scenarios while PETROLINA covered part of the fuel for the aircraft involved in the exercise.
Special Operations Teams executed various scenarios during the exercise, and specifically the Special Counter-Terrorism Team of the Emergency Response Unit of Cyprus Police, the 31st Airborne Search and Rescue Operations Squadron of Special Operations Command of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, the 747 Disaster Response Team of Hellenic Army, the special team of the 865 Aerial Delivery Battalion, teams of the Underwater Demolition Team of the Navy Command of the General Staff of National Guard, the Cyprus Naval Mariners Reserve Association, the Disaster Response Special Unit (D.R.S.U.) of Cyprus Fire Service, as well as specialized nurses of the Ambulance Service of the State Health Services Organization, the 2 Special Rescue Teams of Larnaca and Paphos Airport and the Marine Pollution Response Team of Department of Fisheries and Marine Research.
Source: Cyprus News Agency