“NEMESIS – 2020” is conducted for the 7th consecutive year and is part of the proper preparation of all involved, in the implementation of the energy program of the Republic, agencies to confront any distress situation that may occur on a hydrocarbon platform. The general coordination of the exercise was under the Larnaca Search and Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Shipping, the National Guard, the Cyprus Police and the Department of Fisheries.

The exercise included counter-terrorism scenarios on a hydrocarbon platform, boarding operations on suspicious boats, ship firefighting, air-evacuation of trapped and injured persons, a mass rescue operation, as a result of the abandonment of the platform, as well as anti-pollution operations.

For the successful execution of the scenarios, Cyprus implemented and tested 3 Special National Plans (SNP), which are included in the National Master Plan of the Republic, “ZENON”, SNP “ASPIDA” (shield) of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order for the counter-terrorism operations, SNP “TEFKROS” of the Ministry of Defense for the mass search and rescue operations and SNP “ORPHEAS” of the Ministry of Agriculture Rural Development and Environment. The results of the exercise and the field-testing of the forementioned SNPs, will be evaluated and accordingly handled by the involved agencies, to further improve the procedures applied for dealing with distress situations that may occur during the implementation of the energy program of Republic of Cyprus.

In the exercise scenario, 21 maritime units and 12 air assets participated. Particularly, in the exercise participated 1 Frigate of the Greek Navy, 1 Frigate of the French Navy, 2 ships of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, 3 warships of the Navy Command of the General Staff of National Guard, 3 patrol boats of the Port and Marine Police, "ALEXANDRIA" tanker of the company PETRONAV, which is financed by EMSA, the platform "TUNGSTEN EXPLORER", as well as 1 boat of VSS Vasiliko, 1 of VTS Vasiliko and 2 boats of EDT Offshore company for dealing with marine pollution and fire on-board. Also, 3 Helicopters of the RoC (1 from CPAU and 2 from 460 MED / GEEF), 3 helicopters of the United Kingdom, 1 French helicopter, 1 Italian UAV MQ9, and 4 Aircrafts (1 Greek C-130,1 Italian P-72 1 American P-8 and 1 from the Department of Forests) participated in the scenarios.

Special Operations Teams executed various scenarios during the exercise, and specifically the 31st Airborne Search and Rescue Operations Squadron of the Hellenic Airforce, the 747 Disaster Response Team of Hellenic Army, a team of the Underwater Demolition Team of the Navy Command of the General Staff of National Guard, the Disaster Response Special Unit (D.R.S.U.) of Cyprus Fire Service, as well as specialized nurses of the Ambulance Service of the State Health Services Organization.