All ready for NATO Submarine Escape and Rescue Working Group (SMERWG) which from 27 to 29 June will take place at the Istituto di Studi Militari Marittimi in Venice.
Three days dedicated to the theme of submarine rescue, the technologies used, the intervention techniques and the training methods of the military personnel who will be found to operate in such emergencies.
The 2023 session of the SMERWG takes place for the first time in Italy and is organized by the Navy, which has brought together for the occasion experts in the sector, Navies of the Atlantic Alliance and Navies that do not orbit within NATO as well as a qualified representation of the industrial and research world with specific skills in the underwater field.
There are 18 nations taking part in the event and sharing the aims of this initiative, such as the search for increasingly effective integration between nations in support of the eventuality of a damaged submarine.
The participation of ISMERLO (International SubMarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office), an organization established by NATO in 2004, currently under Italian leadership, which coordinates international search and rescue operations for damaged submarines through the use of a web platform where requests for assistance converge and the availability of the various Navies to deploy men and equipment in case of need.
With the appointment in Venice, the leadership of Italy and the Navy in the rescue of damaged submarines is confirmed and consolidated even further, thanks also to an investment program that will lead to the creation of a unit Special and Diving Operations - Submarine Rescue Ship (Sdo-Surs) to support underwater operations equipped with innovative intervention systems of Italian design.
In this sense, as Rear Admiral Vito Lacerenza, Commander of the Navy Submarines, underlined in his opening speech, "participation in the SMERWG represents for the participating nations a significant moment of improvement of the culture of safety in the underwater domain, a complex and challenging environment, which is assuming ever greater importance at a global level".
The international commitment of the Navy in the field of submarine rescue will continue in Taranto starting from 3 July in the context of the IV training course for Rescue Force coordinator (CRF).
