Filenews 10 September 2021
Joint training was carried out on Friday morning by the Underwater Disaster Unit of the National Guard and the corresponding team of NAVY SEALS, with a plan to recapture a ship.
The scenario of the exercise concerns a counter-boarding and recapture of a ship and was carried out on the General Support Ship "ALASIA" of the National Guard that is docked at the Port of Limassol.
During the exercise, technical procedures were applied for boarding and occupying the ship's living spaces as well as control, personnel management and threat neutralization.
The exercise was attended by the Secretary of Defence accompanied by the Ambassador of the United States.
In his statements, Charalambos Petrides expressed his gratitude to those who participated in the exercise, which is another important milestone for the strengthening of the military cooperation of the Republic of Cyprus with the USA. Today's exercise, he said, between the special forces of our countries is part of numerous activities and actions that have been developed in the last two years, such as the access of Cypriot officers to military academies in the U.S., the partial lifting of the embargo, the creation of the CYCLOPS centre in Cyprus and small-scale exercises. Cyprus and the US share common aspirations and strategy for the security and stability of the region.
"We must be ready and prepared to deal with asymmetric threats and emerging crises. Our intention is to continue working to deepen our bilateral defence cooperation with the US. I would also like to stress the importance of such and level of exercises and training, as we have seen in person among our special forces, contributing to the development of interoperability and cooperation capacity for security and stability in the region."
We hope, he noted, in the future for similar and more collaborations and joint exercises with the U.S. armed forces. I express my thanks and congratulations to all the members of the National Guard and the Underwater Disaster Unit for their flawless presence and successful exercise.