Helicopter Winch Training

After the HUET and survival at sea, the MIRG’s face a new challenge: a helicopter winch training. An important part of the programme as a helicopter will be the main mean of transportation in case of an on board incident.As a helicopter can not land, the men will be, one by one, winched down from a considerable height, on to the deck. On 21 and 23 January the French MIRG will learn and experience what being winched down in a helicopter suit means. The team will use the Civil Security helicopter which is based at “Le Touquet Airport”. This helicopter is often used for search and rescue at sea. It will be a very realistic training. Photos will be published soon.

  Photo taken during Guardex exercise KFRS in October 2012

MIRG EX is an international joint partnership. Safety Region Zeeland (NL), which brings together crisis management, fire fighters and medical assistance, is lead partner. The other partners in the project are: the Fire Brigades of Antwerp, Beveren and Ghent (BE). These brigades are linked to important international ports, that accommodate large chemical production plants. Being able to effectively fight fires on board ships is simply essential. In addition to the fire brigades, the Federal Organisation of Public Civil Assistance in Brugge, the Agency for Maritime and Coastal Services-Shipping Assistance Division and the Maatschappij van de Brugse Zeehaven nv (Zeebrugge Port Authority) are partners in the MIRG-EX project. The French Service départemental d’incendie et de secours de Pas-de-Calais and the English Kent Fire and Rescue Service complete the partnership. Both are confronted with heavy traffic on the Channel and the North Sea. An incident may be just around the corner, but this doesn’t mean it can be easily reached let alone be dealt with. Working with similar teams on both shores, reduces will help to reduce response time.