The procedures for the safe arrival and reception of civilians from a neighbouring country in a crisis were put to the test on Tuesday during an exercise at Limassol port.

The exercise tested the Estia national plan and the readiness and efficiency of the state services called on to implement it.

Foreign observers gathered at Limassol port to watch the exercise in the broader framework of multinational and multimilitary cooperation manoeuvres named Argonaut 2025.

The Argonaut exercise will run until Thursday. It is coordinated by the National Guard, in cooperation with the interior ministry and the search and rescue coordination centre.

Στο λιμάνι Λεμεσού διεξήχθη άσκηση του ειδικού εθνικού σχεδίου “Εστία”, στο πλαίσιο της Πολυεθνικής Άσκησης “Αργοναύτης 2025”.

According to the scenario of the exercise, a port police vessel accompanies a warship that sailed into Limassol port, carrying foreign nationals, who were safely brought to land.

They were then checked and three incidents arose, with a pregnant woman being taken to Limassol general hospital, drugs found by police dogs and the social services being called in for five unaccompanied minors.

The exercise was then transferred to DP World Limassol passenger terminal for border control, where the services were called in for five other incidents.

Those were finding $300,000 in a passenger’s luggage, a knife in the possession of another, medical care to a passenger with chest pain, a political asylum application and the absence of valid travel documents.