On May 31, the Northern Fleet SAR forces returned to the city of Severomorsk after the Barents 2018 Russian-Norwegian drills, says press center of RF Defence Ministry.
The drills are aimed at practising joint actions in search and rescue operations, preventing oil pollution of the sea amid intensive commercial development of the Arctic.
This year, the exercise was supervised by the Norwegian side.
At the drills, the Northern Fleet will be represented by the latest multifunctional combat logistics ship Elbrus, rescue towboat SB-523, Il-38 aircraft.
Ships, vessels, aircraft of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway, the coastal administration, the Navy coastal guards, patrol aircraft of Air Force, the AVINOR airspace control service are involved in the drills from the Norwegian side.
The Barents exercise is the only drills of Rescue Forces, carried out annually by Russia and Norway pursuant to the Treaty between the Kingdom of Norway and the Russian Federation concerning Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean.