Russian and Royal Norwegian Navies started the annual Barents exercise on June 2, its active phase began the day before with the receipt of a distress signal from the area where the ship crashed and sank, and its crew members were in the water. The main objectives of the exercise are to practice joint actions in the search and rescue of people in distress at sea, to prevent oil pollution in the sea area under conditions of intensive industrial development of the Arctic.
The Russian Northern Fleet is represented by the rescue tug ship Nikolai Chiker, IL-38 aircraft and Ka-27 helicopter. Also from the Russian side, the Murmansk maritime rescue coordination center and the Mi-8 helicopter. After the pilots of IL-38 aircraft found people in distress, marked with mannequins, the updated coordinates were transferred to the search and rescue forces. The rescue tug ship Nikolai Chiker went to the area of the accident.
This year, the exercise was conducted under the overall leadership of the Norwegian side. Directly in the exercise from the Norwegian side, ships, vessels, aircraft of the joint rescue coordination center of Northern Norway, the coast administration, the coast guard of the Royal Norwegian Navy, as well as the forces and means of the centers and the AVINOR air space control service were involved.
Exercise Barents 2021 has been conducted annually for more than 20 years, with few exceptions. International exercises Barents are held annually in accordance with the” Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway on cooperation in the search for missing persons and rescue of people in Distress in the Barents Sea of October 04, 1995. .