The activity was attended by the Rescue Coordinating Center of Curaçao, as an international observer.
Through these exercises, work is sought to strengthen the response management of the agencies responsible for providing support in this type of alerts that occur in the regions of responsibility.
The Colombian Navy, the General Maritime Directorate, the Civil Aeronautics and the National Unit for Risk Management - UNGRD, held in Cartagena, the Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) simulation in which people who were on board an aircraft that fall to the sea were rescued, with the aim of strengthening the response capacity when these situations arise.
The exercise simulated the landing of an aircraft that was covering the Santo Domingo - Panama City route with 250 people on board, which had mechanical failures in the vicinity of Cartagena, so it requested by radio the immediate landing at the airport of the heroic city; however, due to the magnitude of the emergency posed, it would have lost communication with the institution and disappeared of the radar.
Faced with this simulated emergency, the SAR protocol was immediately launched, in which all the established procedures are activated to carry out the rescue and safeguard the lives of the passengers and crew of the aircraft.
This activity was attended by Surface, Coast Guard and Naval Aviation units of the Colombian Navy, as well as crew members of the Port Authority of Cartagena, Civil Aeronautics; officials of the District Mayor's Office of Cartagena, the Advisory Office for Disaster Risk Management of Cartagena de Indias - OAGRD, representatives of the city's Port Facilities and other actors of the maritime productive groups.
During the exercise, the response procedures established in the Large–Scale Rescue Operation Protocol (MRO) for the timely assistance of this type of emergency were evaluated, which includes the coordination and coordination of communication and operation procedures conducted by the institutions that make up the National Maritime Search and Rescue System - SSARMAN.
It is worth highlighting the participation of the Rescue Coordinating Center of Curaçao, in its role as an international observer, which serves as a preamble to the programming, planning and execution of international-level SAR exercises.
Source: Press - Maritime General Directorate
