The international maritime search & rescue and non-combatant evacuation five-day exercise “Argonaut 2019” concluded Friday in Larnaca, with the UK contributing dozens of participants and military assets.
The exercise included four phases:
· Phase One featured a tabletop exercise on the implementation of the National Plan “ESTIA”.
· Phases Two and Three featured search and rescue incidents (Night and Day).
· Phase Four featured a live exercise on the implementation of “ESTIA”.
Over 20 countries participated in or observed the exercise. Argonaut included a search and rescue phase and a live exercise at Larnaca port simulating the arrival of large numbers of evacuees into Cyprus, with local authorities working alongside other nations to manage the situation.
The UK contribution to this year’s exercise included two officers from the UK Border Force, a team of Foreign Office officials including five officers from Rapid Deployment Teams, the Regional Crisis Adviser for Europe South, as well as a Planner and the Deputy Head of the Foreign Office’s Crisis Management Department. Two consular officers from the British High Commission in Nicosia and Tel Aviv also participated.
Additionally, five volunteers from the British community on the island participated in the live element at Kition Handling Centre, as well as 150 crew members of HMS Duncan, which was involved in the exercise.
The SBAs also contributed with the 84 Squadron and other members of the British Forces in Cyprus.
British High Commissioner, Stephen Lillie, said: “These exercises are of great importance and we are proud to participate. I am sure participants’ are in a better position to respond to any potential crisis. We value our cooperation with Cyprus in crisis response and will continue developing it, to the benefit of both countries”.
The general aim of Argonaut 2019 was the development and interoperability between the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus, the EU Member States and third countries during the management of humanitarian crises in the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean.
