Emergency Services exercise fire on ship with Brittany Ferries

An exercise, named 'Exercise Auger', will test the emergency services response to a fire at sea between Cherbourg and Poole on Wednesday, 14 May. The exercise will involve the Brittany Ferries ship, 'MV Cotentin,' which will report a 'fire' via a distress call on marine band radio. The ship's captain will request firefighting assistance.

This exercise is designed to deploy the Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG) by Coastguard helicopter to a seagoing vessel. Other organisations involved will include the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), Hampshire, Dorset and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Services, Poole Harbour Commissioners and Brittany Ferries.

There are fifteen MIRG teams who provide cover for the United Kingdom's coastline for incidents involving fires, hazardous materials and industrial accidents. After initial alerting by the MCA, MIRG personnel respond to pager messages and ensure they are equipped and ready to fly within 60 minutes. The MIRG are all volunteers who, in addition to learning practical ship firefighting are trained in water sea survival, helicopter underwater escape, helicopter operations, winching and use of the extensive equipment provided by the MCA and Fire Service specifically for the MIRG.

Lee Fisher, Rescue Co-ordination Centre Manager at HM Coastguard, Lee-on-Solent says: "We are delighted that Brittany Ferries have once again offered their vessel 'MV Cotentin' as a platform to enable a multi-agency exercise to test our local MIRG call out procedures. The MIRG now forms an integral part of the United Kingdom's search and rescue response. Exercise "Auger" will ensure the local MIRG teams gain valuable experience and information regarding areas for improvement."

Group Manager Mick Johns of Hampshire's MIRG team says: "Regular exercises with other fire and rescue services, shipping companies, and emergency services allow us to test our training and offshore procedures. This gives us a better understanding of each other's roles, which ultimately makes sea travel safer.

"Thanks to the various agencies taking part in UK MIRG and exercises like this, the UK has the world's most advanced procedures and plans for firefighting at sea. The 'Sea of Change' project was formed to set up 15 MIRG teams to provide this response from strategic locations, one of these being Hampshire. Our thanks go to Brittany Ferries for allowing us to exercise onboard their ship."

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