Northern Fleet Rescuers Prepare for Barents-2012 Exercise

30.05.2012 Final planning conference of the Barents-2012 Russo-Norwegian search and rescue exercise will take place in Murmansk on June 4; the exercise will be held in the Barents Sea in June.

The Russian delegation will include chief of Northern Fleet (NF) Search and Rescue Dept Capt 1 Rank Vladimir Gorban, the head of Murmansk Maritime Rescue Coordination Center Pyotr Gerasun, NF naval aviation coordinator at Barents-2012 exercise Lt Col Kirill Krasnov and representatives of Murmansk branch of Russian FSB Frontier Service. The Norwegian delegation will be headed by Merete Jeppesen, director of joint rescue center in Bodo.

All organizational issues will be finally settled at the conference; the parties plan to determine involved forces and rescue equipment.

Northern Fleet dispatches rescue tug SB-523, a patrol aircraft Il-38, and a search-and-rescue helicopter Ka-27PS.

As is planned, the exercise will include traditional episodes like life-saving and oil-spill recovery. The Barents joint naval exercise is held on the annual basis in accordance with the agreement between the Russian Government and the Norwegian Government on cooperation in search and rescue of people suffering distress in the Barents Sea tied on Oct 4, 1995. The exercise is directed on rotational basis by representatives of Russian and Norwegian search and rescue services.