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A participant in the Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Phase II exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)
BURGAS (Bulgaria), July 13. 2018. TCG Fatih, arrives alongside in Burgas and joins other Standing NATO Maritime Group Two vessels (HNLMS De Ruyter and ROS Regele Ferdinand) as well as FS Marne and the Turkish submarine TCG Gür, involved in the annual Bulgarian-led exercise BREEZE 18. The aim of the exercise is to enhance the interoperability of participating naval units. Personnel will be tested in a wide variety of warfare tactics . This year, participants include ships from Bulgaria, Netherland, Turkey, France, Romania, Greece and Germany. Photo by WO FRAN C.Valverde.
Greater Manchester's emergency services and Highways England traffic officers joined forces last weekend for one of the biggest ever motorway emergency exercises.
Exercise Dark Knight saw over 100 people respond to a simulated major incident on a closed section of the M62 motorway.
Over 50 volunteers played the part of drivers and passengers involved in a major collision. Their role was to simulate a range of injuries, from cuts and bruises to fatalities.
The exercise was designed to improve responses to major road incidents and ensure coordination between the various emergency services.
To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit www.gmp.police.uk
You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.
Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.
You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.
Greater Manchester's emergency services and Highways England traffic officers joined forces last weekend for one of the biggest ever motorway emergency exercises.
Exercise Dark Knight saw over 100 people respond to a simulated major incident on a closed section of the M62 motorway.
Over 50 volunteers played the part of drivers and passengers involved in a major collision. Their role was to simulate a range of injuries, from cuts and bruises to fatalities.
The exercise was designed to improve responses to major road incidents and ensure coordination between the various emergency services.
To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit www.gmp.police.uk
You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.
Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.
You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.
Sailor 1st Class Gabriel, a Boatswain aboard HMCS TORONTO assists in lowering a Zodiac into the water during Exercise CUTLASS FURY 21 off the east coast of Canada on September 13, 2021.
Photo: MCpl Manuela Berger, Canadian Armed Forces Photo
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Le matelot de 1re classe Gabriel, manœuvrier à bord du NCSM TORONTO, collabore à la mise à l’eau d’un Zodiac au cours de l’exercice CUTLASS FURY 21 au large de la côte Est du Canada le 13 septembre 2021.
Photo : Cplc Manuela Berger, Forces armées canadiennes
Ex SOUTHBOUND TROOPER 2014 .
xxx of the xxxx in xxx is happy to see a Grey Jay take a piece of bread from her had while on February 19th in the training area of 5 Wing Goose Bay in Happy Valley-Goose Bay Newfoundland Labrador. .
Photo by WO Jerry Kean.
Photo identified by LH2014-002-045.
© 2014 DND-MDN Canada.
Soldiers from The Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Nigeria during Exercise Flintlock 2019, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, Feb. 27, 2019.
Hosted by Burkina Faso, Exercise Flintlock is designed to strengthen the ability of key partner nations in the region to counter violent extremist organizations, protect their borders and provide security for their people.
Photo: Spc. Dracorius white
A CH-146 Griffon helicopter from 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron conducts a reconnaissance flight during Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 21.
From May 1 to 11, 2021, about 2500 Canadian Armed Forces members are participating in Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 21 in Wainwright, Alberta. As the premier annual Canadian Army field training event, Ex MAPLE RESOLVE tests soldier skills and abilities within a realistic, complex, and challenging combat environment.
Un hélicoptère CH-146 Griffon de 430e Escadron tactique d'hélicoptères fait un vol de reconnaissance lors de l'exercice MAPLE RESOLVE 21.
Entre 1 à 11 mai 2021, environ 2500 militaires participeront à l’exercice MAPLE RESOLVE à Wainwright, en Alberta. En tant que principale activité d’entraînement en campagne annuelle de l’Armée canadienne, l’exercice MAPLE RESOLVE valide les compétences dans un milieu de combat réaliste, complexe et stimulant.
Photo by: Corporal Connie Valin,
4 Wing Imaging
Sub-Lieutenant Simon Dufresne calculates relative velocity to assist in getting the ship into position during Exercise CUTLASS FURY 21 off the east coast of Canada on September 10, 2021.
Photo: MCpl Manuela Berger, Canadian Armed Forces Photo
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L’enseigne de vaisseau de 1re classe Simon Dufresne calcule la vitesse relative pour faciliter la mise en position du navire au cours de l’exercice CUTLASS FURY 21, au large de la côte Est du Canada, le 10 septembre 2021.
Photo : Cplc Manuela Berger, Forces armées canadiennes
A CH-146 Griffon helicopter from 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron conducts a reconnaissance flight during Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 21.
From May 1 to 11, 2021, about 2500 Canadian Armed Forces members are participating in Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 21 in Wainwright, Alberta. As the premier annual Canadian Army field training event, Ex MAPLE RESOLVE tests soldier skills and abilities within a realistic, complex, and challenging combat environment.
Un hélicoptère CH-146 Griffon de 430e Escadron tactique d'hélicoptères fait un vol de reconnaissance lors de l'exercice MAPLE RESOLVE 21.
Entre 1 à 11 mai 2021, environ 2500 militaires participeront à l’exercice MAPLE RESOLVE à Wainwright, en Alberta. En tant que principale activité d’entraînement en campagne annuelle de l’Armée canadienne, l’exercice MAPLE RESOLVE valide les compétences dans un milieu de combat réaliste, complexe et stimulant.
Photo by: Corporal Connie Valin,
4 Wing Imaging
ARMY OSHKOSH
Heavy Equipment Transporter
18 KM 63. H2
in a convoy on exercise on Salisbury Plain Training Area. SPTA
Exercise Pashtun Dagger
Armed with a SAR 21 and a MATADOR, a soldier emerges from a smoke screen to attack opposition forces in the next building.
Thousands of National Guard Citizen Soldiers and -Airmen from all over the country to participate in military exercises at Volk Field and Fort McCoy, Wisc., The annual ‘Patriot Exercise’ brings in coalition forces from as far away as the Netherlands for combat training and a homeland defense scenario. The exercise started July 12, 2009, and is set to end July 27.
On Tuesday 21st June 2022, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service hosted Exercise Mitchell, a large-scale training exercise at their Bury Training and Safety Centre.
The exercise focused on testing the multi-agency operational response to a CBRNE incident by working with partners and volunteers.
Volunteers were on hand to play the part of casualties following a chemical incident on a tram. Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), North West Ambulance Service (NWAS), Transport for Greater Manchester (TFfG) and other partners responded to the incident.
The exercise commenced with joint working between emergency service control rooms in the early stages of the incident, with several calls being made on 999 calls reporting an incident had occurred on the tram.
It took the form of a multi-agency response to the incident in the morning, working with GMP and NWAS. Later in the afternoon crews also set up and tested the Mass Decontamination Unit, helping volunteers through the process.
This training helps to reinforce understanding of different agencies roles and responsibilities during the response to such an incident and validate learning from the response to previous Major Incidents in Greater Manchester. The exercise also reinforced JESIP principles and procedures to help embed multi-agency working amongst Greater Manchester and regional partners.
Further elements of the exercise will take place later in the year, focusing on the Strategic Coordinating Group (SCG) and Tactical Coordinating Group (TCG) elements of a Major Incident.
The overall exercise helped to test the multi-agency response at the Strategic, Tactical and Operational levels including looking at the operational response, Local Resilience Forum procedures and interoperability between organisations.
You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.
Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.
You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.
You can access many of our services online at www.gmp.police.uk
A weapons technician aboard Norwegian frigate HNoMS Helge Ingstad loads ammunition and powder into the ships main gun, a 76 mm OTO Melara SR canon, on November 1, 2018 as part of exercises during NATO exercise Trident Juncture. Photo: Marius Vågenes Villanger / Forsvaret
Bjørn er våpenteknisk spesialist på fregatten KNM Helge Ingstad. Her lader han kanonen.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service's first training exercise on board a ship has been hailed a success.
Crews from around the county were called to Wisbech Port on Wednesday evening (Oct 19) for a simulated fire in the engine room of a 3,000 tonne Russian ship, with casualties and persons overboard.
The Incident Command Unit from Huntingdon attended along with crews from Wisbech and Huntingdon. Crews from Dogsthorpe with specialist in-water training also attended, together with two crews from Outwell and West Walton in Norfolk.
Twenty-five firefighters had to locate and gain access to the ship’s engine room where the fire was located and carry out a search and rescue of all on-board casualties and extinguish all fires.
Dogsthorpe firefighters wearing drysuits used an inflatable boat to locate and rescue three casualties in the water, working alongside two crews from Fenland District Council’s Harbour Authority, who also had three members of staff shoreside, including Harbour Master Jamie Hemming and a representative from Fenland District Council’s Health and Safety Department.
Exercise Poseidon, as it was referred to throughout the exercise, saw dummies thrown into the water some distance from the ship, which was moored at the harbour in Nene Parade, close to the town centre.
Hazards faced by the crews included narrow passageways, trip hazards with ropes and a potential to fall in the water.
On-board operations took place in dark, narrow passageways with one room filled with smoke. Firefighters searching for bodies in the River Nene worked in night-time conditions.
Although Wisbech firefighters have attended a fire on board a ship before, it was over the border in Norfolk.
Wednesday night’s Exercise Poseidon, however, was Cambridgeshire’s first in-county training exercise on board a ship.
Watch Commander Phil Pilbeam, from Wisbech Station, spent eight weeks planning the event with Crew Commander Tim Carr.
“I’m really pleased with how things went. It all went really smoothly.”
He said the exercise provided a unique opportunity for firefighters to train on board a ship.
"Firefighters in Cambridgeshire are well trained and knowledgeable in house fires, factory fires and Road Traffic Collisions etc. However, a ship fire is unique. It's in a confined space, it's made of metal and it's a lot hotter because it's a metal container.
"Ships have an unfamiliar layout to crews. They can be very complex in their layout and this was a unique opportunity for all the crews to attend and to put these different skills into practice."
WC Pilbeam said the exercise had raised some good learning points.
“The inflatable boat from Dogsthorpe was not powerful enough for a tidal area. It was fine going with the tide but not against it. It had to be towed by the two boats from the Harbour Authority.
“Also, the crew set up lots of hose reels to help us out but we couldn’t use them because the couplings didn’t fit ours so we will be talking to the Harbour Master and our Operational Support Group to bring in some specialist hose reels for the harbour.”
He said communication with the nine-strong Russian crew on board the ship, had proved challenging.
“There were definitely language barriers that were an issue. We would ask what we wanted to get across and they would try and put across what they wanted. There were lots of hand signals and lots of pointing and gesturing.”
Despite some of the difficulties faced, he said the whole exercise, from time of call-out to when the crews returned to their stations, took three hours, which was what he had expected.
Harbour Master Jamie Hemming, of Fenland District Council, said with about forty cargo ships arriving at Wisbech Port each year there was a ‘real chance’ of a fire on board a ship so training exercises like this were really helpful.
“There’s a real chance of fire on board a ship. We are the only Port in Cambridgeshire so for Wisbech it is a serious scenario so from that point of view it was good to see the guys working on something a little bit out of their comfort zone.
“The joint exercise went extremely well and it was reassuring for us as a Harbour Authority to see the whole thing co-ordinated in such a professional and timely manner. It will stand us all in good stead should a similar real incident occur.”
Jamie said the Harbour Authority was keen to see more training exercises on board ships in the future.
“I would like to see another training exercise on board a ship at least once or twice a year as it’s a very proactive approach.”
The majority of boats coming into Wisbech arrive from the Baltics carrying timber and leave with scrap metal for Spain.
Members of Multinational Division Southeast work in the exercise control room during exercise "Dacian Lynx 2016, " May 11, 2016. As a national exercise, "Dacian Lynx” represented a key milestone in MND-SE’s capability development toward a declaration of its initial operational capability at the Warsaw Summit in July 2016. (Courtesy photo)
EN2016-0001-
Lieutenant Megan Couto a member of 2 Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry competes in Power Lifting Competition held on January 26, 2016 at 3rd Canadian Division Edmonton.
Members of 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (1 CMBG) participate in EXERCISE STRONG CONTENDER 16 at Edmonton Garrison from 25th to 29th January 2016.
Exercise Strong Contender sees 1 CMBG major and minor units field teams to compete in Ball Hockey, Basketball, Curling, Ice Hockey, Indoor Soccer, Tactical Athletics, Volleyball, and Powerlifting. The purpose of the exercise is to foster the competitive spirit and teamwork required to succeed in operations.
Photograph by Robert Schwartz 3 CDSG, Edmonton
Dans le cadre de l’exercice STRONG CONTENDER, des unités majeures et mineures du 1 GBMC inscrivent des équipes qui se livrent compétition au hockey balle, au basketball, au curling, au hockey sur glace, au soccer intérieur, à l’entraînement tactique, au volleyball et à la dynamophilie. Le but de l’exercice est de faire la promotion d’un esprit de compétition et d’un esprit d’équipe, des éléments nécessaires à la réussite des opérations.
Photograph by Robert Schwartz, 3 CDSG, Edmonton
In September 2016, the Regional Security Office (RSO) at the U.S. Embassy Muscat in Oman paired with U.S. Marines, the U.S. Navy, and the Royal Oman Police (ROP) to conduct the first full-scale non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) training exercise at an active embassy.
During an actual NEO, the Departments of Defense and State assist in evacuating U.S. citizens and nationals, and designated persons, whose lives are in danger.(U.S. Marine Corps photo)
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Commander of NATO Joint Force Command Naples, Admiral James Foggo, visits the bridge or Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) ship Norwegian frigate HNoMS Helge Ingstad on November 4, 2018 during exercise Trident Juncture. Photo: Marius Vågenes Villanger / Forsvaret
Admiral James Foggo inspiserer KNM Helge Ingstad. Her på broa.
Crewmembers aboard German mine hunter FGS Homburg (SNMCMG1) lower a Seafox marine drone into the water on October 26, 2018 during mine countermeasures operations at night as a part of Trident Juncture 18. Trident Juncture 18 is designed to ensure that NATO forces are trained, able to operate together and ready to respond to any threat from any direction. Trident Juncture 18 takes place in Norway and the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden.
With around 50,000 participants from 31 nations Trident Juncture 2018 is one of NATOâs largest exercises in recent years. More than 250 aircraft, 65 ships and 10,000 vehicles are involved in the exercise to perform and conduct air, land, maritime, special operation and amphibious drills. NATO Photo By WO FRAN C.Valverde.
In September 2016, the Regional Security Office (RSO) at the U.S. Embassy Muscat in Oman paired with U.S. Marines, the U.S. Navy, and the Royal Oman Police (ROP) to conduct the first full-scale non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) training exercise at an active embassy.
During an actual NEO, the Departments of Defense and State assist in evacuating U.S. citizens and nationals, and designated persons, whose lives are in danger.(U.S. Marine Corps photo)
Task Group fleet sail in formation off the east coast of Canada during Exercise CUTLASS FURY 21 on September 9, 2021.
Photo: MCpl Manuela Berger, Canadian Armed Forces Photo
~
Les navires du groupe opérationnel naviguent en formation au large de la côte Est du Canada, au cours de l’exercice CUTLASS FURY 21, le 9 septembre 2021.
Photo : Cplc Manuela Berger, Forces armées canadiennes
On Tuesday 21st June 2022, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service hosted Exercise Mitchell, a large-scale training exercise at their Bury Training and Safety Centre.
The exercise focused on testing the multi-agency operational response to a CBRNE incident by working with partners and volunteers.
Volunteers were on hand to play the part of casualties following a chemical incident on a tram. Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), North West Ambulance Service (NWAS), Transport for Greater Manchester (TFfG) and other partners responded to the incident.
The exercise commenced with joint working between emergency service control rooms in the early stages of the incident, with several calls being made on 999 calls reporting an incident had occurred on the tram.
It took the form of a multi-agency response to the incident in the morning, working with GMP and NWAS. Later in the afternoon crews also set up and tested the Mass Decontamination Unit, helping volunteers through the process.
This training helps to reinforce understanding of different agencies roles and responsibilities during the response to such an incident and validate learning from the response to previous Major Incidents in Greater Manchester. The exercise also reinforced JESIP principles and procedures to help embed multi-agency working amongst Greater Manchester and regional partners.
Further elements of the exercise will take place later in the year, focusing on the Strategic Coordinating Group (SCG) and Tactical Coordinating Group (TCG) elements of a Major Incident.
The overall exercise helped to test the multi-agency response at the Strategic, Tactical and Operational levels including looking at the operational response, Local Resilience Forum procedures and interoperability between organisations.
You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.
Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.
You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.
You can access many of our services online at www.gmp.police.uk
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service's first training exercise on board a ship has been hailed a success.
Crews from around the county were called to Wisbech Port on Wednesday evening (Oct 19) for a simulated fire in the engine room of a 3,000 tonne Russian ship, with casualties and persons overboard.
The Incident Command Unit from Huntingdon attended along with crews from Wisbech and Huntingdon. Crews from Dogsthorpe with specialist in-water training also attended, together with two crews from Outwell and West Walton in Norfolk.
Twenty-five firefighters had to locate and gain access to the ship’s engine room where the fire was located and carry out a search and rescue of all on-board casualties and extinguish all fires.
Dogsthorpe firefighters wearing drysuits used an inflatable boat to locate and rescue three casualties in the water, working alongside two crews from Fenland District Council’s Harbour Authority, who also had three members of staff shoreside, including Harbour Master Jamie Hemming and a representative from Fenland District Council’s Health and Safety Department.
Exercise Poseidon, as it was referred to throughout the exercise, saw dummies thrown into the water some distance from the ship, which was moored at the harbour in Nene Parade, close to the town centre.
Hazards faced by the crews included narrow passageways, trip hazards with ropes and a potential to fall in the water.
On-board operations took place in dark, narrow passageways with one room filled with smoke. Firefighters searching for bodies in the River Nene worked in night-time conditions.
Although Wisbech firefighters have attended a fire on board a ship before, it was over the border in Norfolk.
Wednesday night’s Exercise Poseidon, however, was Cambridgeshire’s first in-county training exercise on board a ship.
Watch Commander Phil Pilbeam, from Wisbech Station, spent eight weeks planning the event with Crew Commander Tim Carr.
“I’m really pleased with how things went. It all went really smoothly.”
He said the exercise provided a unique opportunity for firefighters to train on board a ship.
"Firefighters in Cambridgeshire are well trained and knowledgeable in house fires, factory fires and Road Traffic Collisions etc. However, a ship fire is unique. It's in a confined space, it's made of metal and it's a lot hotter because it's a metal container.
"Ships have an unfamiliar layout to crews. They can be very complex in their layout and this was a unique opportunity for all the crews to attend and to put these different skills into practice."
WC Pilbeam said the exercise had raised some good learning points.
“The inflatable boat from Dogsthorpe was not powerful enough for a tidal area. It was fine going with the tide but not against it. It had to be towed by the two boats from the Harbour Authority.
“Also, the crew set up lots of hose reels to help us out but we couldn’t use them because the couplings didn’t fit ours so we will be talking to the Harbour Master and our Operational Support Group to bring in some specialist hose reels for the harbour.”
He said communication with the nine-strong Russian crew on board the ship, had proved challenging.
“There were definitely language barriers that were an issue. We would ask what we wanted to get across and they would try and put across what they wanted. There were lots of hand signals and lots of pointing and gesturing.”
Despite some of the difficulties faced, he said the whole exercise, from time of call-out to when the crews returned to their stations, took three hours, which was what he had expected.
Harbour Master Jamie Hemming, of Fenland District Council, said with about forty cargo ships arriving at Wisbech Port each year there was a ‘real chance’ of a fire on board a ship so training exercises like this were really helpful.
“There’s a real chance of fire on board a ship. We are the only Port in Cambridgeshire so for Wisbech it is a serious scenario so from that point of view it was good to see the guys working on something a little bit out of their comfort zone.
“The joint exercise went extremely well and it was reassuring for us as a Harbour Authority to see the whole thing co-ordinated in such a professional and timely manner. It will stand us all in good stead should a similar real incident occur.”
Jamie said the Harbour Authority was keen to see more training exercises on board ships in the future.
“I would like to see another training exercise on board a ship at least once or twice a year as it’s a very proactive approach.”
The majority of boats coming into Wisbech arrive from the Baltics carrying timber and leave with scrap metal for Spain.
exercise image - A woman in an exercise image. To Download this image without watermarks for Free, visit: www.sourcepics.com/free-stock-photography/24739424-exerci...
Technicians do final checks of an underwater drone aboard FGS Homburg (SNMCMG1) October 26, 2018 before launch during Trident Juncture 18 night mine countermeasures operations. Trident Juncture 18 is designed to ensure that NATO forces are trained, able to operate together and ready to respond to any threat from any direction. Trident Juncture 18 takes place in Norway and the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden.
With around 50,000 participants from 31 nations Trident Juncture 2018 is one of NATOâs largest exercises in recent years. More than 250 aircraft, 65 ships and 10,000 vehicles are involved in the exercise to perform and conduct air, land, maritime, special operation and amphibious drills. NATO Photo By WO FRAN C.Valverde
BLACK SEA, July 19. 2018. SNMG2 flagship HNLMS De Ruyter deploys its NH-90 Helicopter while conducting a Anti-Submarine Warfare exercise during Exercise BREEZE 18. NATO Photo by WO FRAN C. Valverde.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service's first training exercise on board a ship has been hailed a success.
Crews from around the county were called to Wisbech Port on Wednesday evening (Oct 19) for a simulated fire in the engine room of a 3,000 tonne Russian ship, with casualties and persons overboard.
The Incident Command Unit from Huntingdon attended along with crews from Wisbech and Huntingdon. Crews from Dogsthorpe with specialist in-water training also attended, together with two crews from Outwell and West Walton in Norfolk.
Twenty-five firefighters had to locate and gain access to the ship’s engine room where the fire was located and carry out a search and rescue of all on-board casualties and extinguish all fires.
Dogsthorpe firefighters wearing drysuits used an inflatable boat to locate and rescue three casualties in the water, working alongside two crews from Fenland District Council’s Harbour Authority, who also had three members of staff shoreside, including Harbour Master Jamie Hemming and a representative from Fenland District Council’s Health and Safety Department.
Exercise Poseidon, as it was referred to throughout the exercise, saw dummies thrown into the water some distance from the ship, which was moored at the harbour in Nene Parade, close to the town centre.
Hazards faced by the crews included narrow passageways, trip hazards with ropes and a potential to fall in the water.
On-board operations took place in dark, narrow passageways with one room filled with smoke. Firefighters searching for bodies in the River Nene worked in night-time conditions.
Although Wisbech firefighters have attended a fire on board a ship before, it was over the border in Norfolk.
Wednesday night’s Exercise Poseidon, however, was Cambridgeshire’s first in-county training exercise on board a ship.
Watch Commander Phil Pilbeam, from Wisbech Station, spent eight weeks planning the event with Crew Commander Tim Carr.
“I’m really pleased with how things went. It all went really smoothly.”
He said the exercise provided a unique opportunity for firefighters to train on board a ship.
"Firefighters in Cambridgeshire are well trained and knowledgeable in house fires, factory fires and Road Traffic Collisions etc. However, a ship fire is unique. It's in a confined space, it's made of metal and it's a lot hotter because it's a metal container.
"Ships have an unfamiliar layout to crews. They can be very complex in their layout and this was a unique opportunity for all the crews to attend and to put these different skills into practice."
WC Pilbeam said the exercise had raised some good learning points.
“The inflatable boat from Dogsthorpe was not powerful enough for a tidal area. It was fine going with the tide but not against it. It had to be towed by the two boats from the Harbour Authority.
“Also, the crew set up lots of hose reels to help us out but we couldn’t use them because the couplings didn’t fit ours so we will be talking to the Harbour Master and our Operational Support Group to bring in some specialist hose reels for the harbour.”
He said communication with the nine-strong Russian crew on board the ship, had proved challenging.
“There were definitely language barriers that were an issue. We would ask what we wanted to get across and they would try and put across what they wanted. There were lots of hand signals and lots of pointing and gesturing.”
Despite some of the difficulties faced, he said the whole exercise, from time of call-out to when the crews returned to their stations, took three hours, which was what he had expected.
Harbour Master Jamie Hemming, of Fenland District Council, said with about forty cargo ships arriving at Wisbech Port each year there was a ‘real chance’ of a fire on board a ship so training exercises like this were really helpful.
“There’s a real chance of fire on board a ship. We are the only Port in Cambridgeshire so for Wisbech it is a serious scenario so from that point of view it was good to see the guys working on something a little bit out of their comfort zone.
“The joint exercise went extremely well and it was reassuring for us as a Harbour Authority to see the whole thing co-ordinated in such a professional and timely manner. It will stand us all in good stead should a similar real incident occur.”
Jamie said the Harbour Authority was keen to see more training exercises on board ships in the future.
“I would like to see another training exercise on board a ship at least once or twice a year as it’s a very proactive approach.”
The majority of boats coming into Wisbech arrive from the Baltics carrying timber and leave with scrap metal for Spain.