Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) will conduct its first joint maritime search and rescue exercise with the US Coast Guard (USCG) and the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) on June 6. 

It will be the first joint exercise to take place since the signing of a Letter of Intent aimed at improving cooperation among the three Coast Guards.

In addition, USCG and KCG patrol vessels will call at Maizuru Port for a tour of JCG facilities.

The exercise will assume that two vessels have collided with each other on the high seas and a fire has broken out. The JCG, USCG and KCG will test cooperation on communications between the Maizuru Rescue Coordination Center and South Korea’s Donghae Rescue Coordination Center by sharing information on the vessels in distress.

There will be a search and rescue planning exercise to estimate drifting and the search area conditions, followed by a joint exercise to recover life rafts, and search and rescue the crew members.

The exercise will involve Coast Guard vessels, helicopters, drones, and an airplane.