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The control centre at Larnaca

WITH THE wounds of the Mari blast still raw, and with exploratory drillings for hydrocarbons already underway in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the issues of security, safety and crisis response seem more relevant to Cyprus than ever. 

The Cyprus Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC), which celebrates 16 years of operation this year, says its 26 trained staff, which is comprised of air-force and navy personnel, is ready for anything.

“With respect to the hydrocarbons platform at Aphrodite, JRCC is following all the appropriate procedures,” said JRCC’s operations officer, Lieutenant Commander Minas Solomonides this week. 

The JRCC is in charge of sea rescue missions within Cyprus’ flight information region which stretches up to 173,000 square kilometres and includes all of Cyprus’ EEZ. This now includes Noble Energy’s oil platform, the Homer Ferrington, at Aphrodite.

The platform poses a new challenge for the JRCC, as it is the first port of call if there is an emergency at the rig 

Although a drilling platform in Cyprus’ neck of the woods is somewhat of a novelty, an international codified framework - known as the MODU code - concerning fire safety, stability and life-saving appliances on platforms and rescue missions has been in place since 1979.

Through Cyprus’ adoption of the MODU code, any structure set up in waters under Cypriot jurisdiction - such as the Noble platform at Aphrodite - has to operate under national rules; which in this case mirror international ones.  

In addition, the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR), which Cyprus and the JRCC have endorsed, lists several measures that need to be taken on SAR missions. 

The three guiding disciplines of the convention are the speed of response, adequate equipment and the proper training of staff. SAR groups must be dispatched within half an hour of an order being given. 

“The JRCC has already formulated a detailed rescue plan with codified actions of all departments involved in a SAR mission to the platform,” said Solomonides. The centre is also in daily radio and satellite contact with the control centre on the Homer Ferrington.

The JRCC, Solomonides said, is specifically responsible for the coordination of the rescue mission, utilising the equipment and personnel of other departments such as the police, the National Guard, the fire department and the civil defence. 

A national plan called “Nearchos” includes five codified rescue scenarios. 

In the event of a “massive rescue” operation, which would apply for the hydrocarbon platform in the case of an accident for example, a committee would be set up comprising the ministers of defence, justice and public order, interior, foreign affairs and communications and works. Representatives of all departments involved would also be present. Solomonides said that this was also consistent with international conventions and mirror other SAR operations conducted in other platform rigs worldwide.    

JRCC is also obliged to provide adequate preparation and information. To this end, JRCC provided Noble with information on the location of helipads around Cyprus; at the general hospitals of Nicosia, Larnaca, Limassol, Paphos and Paralimni, the American Heart Institute in Nicosia and the army base next to the Larnaca general hospital. 

JRCC can call upon five AW-139 helicopters, two purchased by the Cyprus police in 2010, while the other three were purchased recently by the National Guard. 

In terms of any environmental accident, Serghios Serghiou, director of the ministry of communication and work’s department of merchant shipping, said that the international maritime conventions provided all the necessary clauses.

Any pollution caused from the platform is the responsibility of the company which would have to cover all costs of any damage.

The JRCC was originally formed in 1960, and up until 1995, rescue missions were coordinated by the British bases. After a gradual transfer of duties throughout the years, JRCC was transformed into an independent agency in 2010, operating under the auspices of the ministry of defence. 

Since its inception, it has received over 4,000 calls for rescue, conducting a total of 483 SAR missions. Its biggest single operation was the Romantica cruise ship incident in 1997 when 798 people were rescued.

“JRCC’s role and its responsibilities have been enhanced lately, not so much because of the specific hydrocarbon platform, but generally due to the significance of Cyprus in the region,” said JRCC’s commander, Navy Captain Kostas Fytiris.

JRCC said it was planning to establish closer ties with Cyprus’ European partners, by hosting a rescue agency conference and exercise during 2012. Most importantly, the European Commission has agreed to place one of its three earth satellite (MEOLUT) receiving stations in Cyprus until 2013.