Romanian Border Police successfully complete new FRONTEX international mission

Romanian Border police officers, members of the MAI 1104 sea-going ship crew, have returned home after a successful, three-month mission in the Aegean Sea, under the aegis of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX), after more than 930 hours of patrolling the external sea border of the EU and rescuing 484 people from drowning. 

"July 1 - September 30, 2019, the MAI 1104 maritime patrol boat of the Romanian Coast Guard participated in the 'POSEIDON 2019' mission, organised under the auspices of FRONTEX (European Border Police and Coast Guard Agency). The operation was carried out in the Aegean Sea, with two crews, rotating aboard the Romanian Border Police ship, carried out patrolling, surveillance, search and rescue missions in the Aegean Sea along with other EU member states participating in the mission," reads a Coast Guard press statement released on Thursday. 

During the operation, the Romanian border guard officers conducted 93 missions, during which time their ship put out 934 hours of patrolling. The officers also participated in 25 search and rescue actions at sea to rescue, transship and transport 484 people (160 women, 200 men and 124 minors), who were in danger of drowning in the Aegean Sea. In all these cases, the specific medical actions (triage and assessment) were carried on board the Romanian ship, after which the persons concerned were transported to Greek ports and handed over to local authorities for further specific procedures. 

The activity is said to be a continuation of the operations organised by the FRONTEX Agency for the management of the illegal migration flows where the Romanian Border Police has had a permanent significant contribution, both in terms of technical means and in terms of number, profiles and professionalism of the deployed experts. 

The main objective of Operation "POSEIDON 2019" was to support the Greek authorities in the surveillance and control at the sea borders of the European Union. 

The aim was to carry out common measures along the lines of managing the migration flow at the sea borders of the EU, search and rescue involving people in distress at sea, increasing the operability of data and information exchanges among the authorities involved, as well as an efficient exchange of experience and good practices between European border guards.