SAR put to the test

The mass rescue exercise is being carried out to help improve SAR operations, which MONALISA 2.0., a European-wide maritime project, says needs work.

The event was preceded by a table top exercise in the Jovellanos Centre, Gijón, in October last year.

The real exercise will take place in Valencia, and it will simulate a fire caused by a mechanical failure on a large passenger vessel with thousands of people onboard.

This comes after significant incidents in recent years, such as Costa Concordia and the South Korean vessel Sewol, which saw 32 people die off the coast of Tuscany and over 300 fatalities in South Korea.

Sea transportation remains a safe way to travel and ship goods, but MONALISA 2.0 project partners say these events reinforce the fact that more still needs to be done to improve maritime safety.

Just this week, more than 800 migrants died after a vessel capsized in the Mediterranean on a crossing from Africa to Europe. Apparently, the captain, who is just one of 28 to have survived and faces multiple homicide charges, crashed the boat by mistake against a merchant rescue ship.

The Spanish Maritime Safety Agency exercise is planned for 15 June 2015.

MONALISA 2.0 is a collaboration between the private, public and academic sectors and is co-financed by the European Union. The total project budget is €24m.

By Rachael Doyle