April 20-21, representatives of Lithuanian, Polish and Russian search and rescue services will meet at the Lithuanian Naval Forces Headquarters in Klaipėda in trilateral format. In the meeting joint search and rescue and pollution incident response training to be held on July-August in the Baltic Sea area of Kaliningrad Oblast.
The recent venue of the working meeting of representatives of Russian, Polish and Lithuanian search and rescue services last autumn was in Kaliningrad.
The trilateral work seminar in Klaipėda is organised by the Lithuanian Naval Force Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre. Search and rescue and pollution incident response action at sea were transferred from the Lithuanian Administration of Safe Navigation under the mandate of the Lithuanian Naval Force Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre that was opened in 2010. The Centre is responsible for the following tasks - organisation, coordination, and supervision of search and rescue of people actions in the search and rescue zone, and to organise, coordinate and supervise response to oil and noxious materials spill and other pollution incidents at sea region. In Russia the mentioned activities fall under a civilian institution's responsibility.
Lithuania and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement in October 2009 on cooperation between the countries in responding to pollution of the Baltic Sea with oil and other noxious materials. Under the agreement Governments of the Republic of Lithuania and the Russian Federation committed to coordinate actions and take up measures of pollution prevention and response, to prevent harm for the Baltic Sea environment and to ensure preservation of the Curonian Spit, a UNECO object. The document also entails cooperation of competent Lithuanian and Russian institutions and responsible services in response to pollution incidents, and establishing responsibility zones in the Baltic Sea in which the mentioned institutions are to take up response actions.
MCPO Gediminas Zabitis, Lithuanian Naval Force Headquarters, office phone 0370 46 391206, cell phone 0370 698 18 391
