The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, took part in the COASTEX 2019 exercise organized in Catania, Italy, as part of the European Coast Guard Functions Forum.
During the event, 90 participants from 16 Member States, experts from Frontex, the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) conducted exercises to test different coast guard functions.
The exercise was jointly coordinated by the Italian Coast Guard and Guardia di Finanza with 11 naval vessels, three aircraft and three boarding teams. It featured a complex scenario simulating search and rescue operations, activities to combat illegal fishing, fight pollution and other types of illegal activities at sea. The aim was to test multipurpose operations, where different authorities work together to support various coast guard functions in the same operation.
Prior to the simulation exercise, COASTEX 2019 hosted a plenary session and three working groups, which focused primarily on the issues of risk management, training and operational and logistical issues.
