NAMIRG: final exercise at sea successfully performed in Pula, Croatia

On 22 November, the final exercise at sea of the NAMIRG project took place in the Port of Pula, Croatia.

Over the past two years, the team of 27 firefighters from the fire brigades of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Italy), Koper (Slovenia) and the Istria County (Croatia), has followed several courses and training in Trieste, Rovinj, Ljubljana, Pavia, La Spezia, Split, (namely Hot Fire, Sea Survival, Helicopter Underwater Escape, and Helo), carried out four on-board fire-fighting simulations and exchanged experiences with other international Maritime Incident Response Group - MIRG teams from the Netherlands and Finland.

The final exercise, which consisted of the rescue of a ship following a simulated fire incident, was an opportunity to showcase what had been achieved during the lifetime of the project, paving the way for more transnational cooperation and efficient emergency response to incidents on-board at sea. The rescue exercise included the intervention of two tugs, a support motorboat and a helicopter that loaded the wounded of the simulation on board. A difficult maneuver that was perfectly executed as highlighted by representatives from the MIRG teams of The Netherlands and Finland.

The operation was attended, among others, by Croatian Minister of Internal Affairs, Davor Bozinovic; Asta Mackeviciute from the European Commission; CEI Secretary General, Roberto Antonione and CEI Deputy Secretary General, Nina Kodelja; Trieste government commissioner, Valerio Valenti; acting president of the Istrian Region, Fabrizio Radin; Mayor of Pula, Boris Miletic; Regional Director of Friuli Venezia Giulia of the Fire Brigade, Eros Mannino, Maritime Director and Commander of the Port of Trieste, Admiral Luca Sancilio, as well as by Regional Councilor for Security and Immigration Policy, Pierpaolo Roberti.

The operation lasted for about an hour and ended with the deployment, from the helicopter, of a single flag with the three flags of the partner countries, the European flag and the CEI logo printed on it.

The exercise marked the end of the two-year project NAMIRG aimed at creating the first transnational system for efficient emergency response at sea. The project was co-financed by the European Commission Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, and coordinated by the Central European Initiative - Executive Secretariat (CEI-ES).

CEI Secretary General Roberto Antonione called for other countries facing the Adriatic coast to join the NAMIRG team in the future.

For more info: marconato@cei.int

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