Russian aircraft, ships take part in the Baltic marine search and salvage drills
A salvage tug VM-143 and a Baltic Fleet's naval aircraft AN-26 on July 29, 2014 participated in the Baltic international exercises for search and salvage of distressed vessel, rescue of people on the water, the Ministry of Defense PR department said.
The Russian team also involved a fast response / boarder patrol ship of Kaliningrad regional department of the FSB of Russia, specialized vessels of Kaliningrad Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, the regional offices of EMERCOM and customs, as well as search and rescue boats of Lithuania and Poland.
According to the drills scenario the international forces conducted a salvage operation in the Baltic Sea to rescue the crew from a simulated distressed vessel at sea. The fishing vessel "Mars" played the role of the stricken ship with which the contact was lost a day ago.
The AN-26 aircraft was deployed to assist in locating the stricken ship and reporting to other salvage units the disabled ship's coordinates.
The drills are held annually in the Baltic Sea since 2000 in order to develop interaction of emergency response services of the coastal countries.
