The RescOP (Development of rescue operations in the Gulf of Finland) project sought to promote maritime safety by developing voluntary maritime rescue activities in the eastern Gulf of Finland.
Developing the activities of the Kronstadt voluntary maritime rescue association has been the central theme of the project, which saw three training events organised for the volunteers in the Finnish Maritime Rescue Association’s activity centre in Bågaskär. This way, information and skills built up in Finland were disseminated for the benefit of the entire community.
A new simulation model and a maritime rescue atlas
In order to improve maritime safety and help design rescue equipment, the project entailed the creation of a simulation model based on statistics and data from vessels’ identification systems. Training was organised for various maritime rescue actors, and cooperation among VTS operators was rehearsed with the involvement of Kotka, St Petersburg and Tallinn.
An atlas of Finland’s sea and lake rescue missions was published as part of an Aalto University series of publications. It details and analyses the search, rescue and aid missions resulting from accidents in Finland’s lake and maritime areas in the 2007–2012 period. While it primarily describes missions carried out by the Finnish Maritime Rescue Association, it also includes those of the Finnish Border Guard and Rescue Departments. The principal aim of visualisations and analyses is to support the Finnish Maritime Rescue Association in its decisions regarding the placement of its rescue vessels.
Training volunteer oil spill response forces
As part of our maritime rescue activities, we developed the operations of a volunteer oil spill response force. The project is part of a larger objective of developing volunteer-based maritime rescue activities in the entire Baltic Sea region. Training organised by our Russian project partners has managed to recruit over 250 volunteer oil spill responders.
In Kotka, we are also working with a local maritime rescue association. The project seeks to improve maritime safety in order to ensure that Finnish small boaters, for example, can enjoy a comprehensive and reliable maritime rescue service in the entire eastern Gulf of Finland area.
Thanks to the project, the Kronstadt maritime rescue association acquired its own rescue vessel.
Funding
Funded by the South-eastern Finland – Russia ENPI CBC 2007-2013 programme, with a total budget of 1,624,994 euros.
Project partners
Kotka Maritime Research Association (coordinator)
Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences
Aalto University
Finnish maritime rescue association
Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy
Saint-Petersburg State Marine Technical University
Saint-Petersburg State Unitary Enterprise PILARN
Committee for Nature Use Environmental Protection and Ecological Safety
St.Petersburg State University Division of International Baltic and Arctic projects
Central Marine Research & Design Institute Ltd and Regional Public Organisation ”Russian Voluntary Maritime Rescue Society of Kronstadt”
