Press Releases

Today, the 3^rd of November 2021, the multinational exercise "NEMESIS 2021" was conducted within sea-plots 1, 2, 8 and 9 of the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus. Aeronautical units and personnel from Cyprus, Greece, France, the UK, the USA, Israel, Italy and Egypt, as well as of 6 private companies participated in the exercise. The Minister of Defence, mr. Charalambos Petrides, the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, mr. Yiannis Karousos and the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, mrs Natasa Pilides, the Ambassadors and Defence Attachès of the participating States, as well as representatives of EXXONMOBIL, TOTAL, ENI and NOBLE, which are operating in Cyprus EEZ, observed portion of the exercise’s scenario from Joint Rescue Coordination Center’s premises in Larnaca.

The multinational exercise “NEMESIS 2021” is conducted for the 8^th consecutive year, as a part of the preparation of the involved, to the realization of the energy program of the Republic, state agencies, aiming to the proper confrontation of any distress situation that may occur on a hydrocarbon platform. 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.

The exercise included counter-terrorism scenarios on a hydrocarbon platform, boarding operations on suspicious boats, ship firefighting, 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.

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 forementioned 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 Republic of Cyprus.

In overall, in the exercise participated 20 assets from foreign countries, 24 assets and services of the Republic of Cyprus, 6 private companies and 2 international organizations. Particularly, 1 Frigate of the Greek Navy, 5 warships of the Navy Command of the General Staff of National Guard, 2 patrol boats of the Port and Marine Police, "ALEXANDRIA" tanker of “PETRONAV” company, financed by EMSA, the "TUNGSTEN EXPLORER" platform, as well as 1 boat of VSS EPE, 1 of VTS Vasiliko and 2 boats of EDT Offshore company for dealing with marine pollution and on-board fire. Also, 4 Helicopters of the RoC (2 of CPAU and 2 of 460 MED / National Guard), the French Maritime Operations Aircraft “ATLANTIQUE”, 1 helicopter 1 helicopter and a marine pollution response team of the United Kingdom, 2 Italian helicopters, 1 Italian “P-72” Aircraft, 1 Italian UAV and 1 C-130 Aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force, 1 American P-8, 1 Aircraft of the Department of Forests, 1 UAV of 470 Airforce Command / National Guard and 1 Drone of EMSA participated in the scenarios.

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 31^st Airborne Search and Rescue Operations Squadron of the Hellenic Air Force, the 747 Disaster Response Team of Hellenic Army, a 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 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.

(SCH)