Finland’s coastline was the stage for one of the largest multinational maritime-security drills ever hosted by the country this week as the Finnish Border Guard concluded the “Livex 2” phase of the European Union’s Marsec EU 26 exercise on Thursday, 18 September. More than 300 specialists from the Border Guard, Police, Defence Forces, Rescue Services and health authorities boarded the ice-breaker Polaris from helicopters and fast boats, rehearsing vessel-seizure, search and evacuation procedures in a scenario that simulated an attack on critical maritime infrastructure. The live exercise followed a springtime tabletop exercise and a summer information-exchange drill that saw a Finnish ro-ro cargo ship track its way up the Baltic while partner states built a common operational picture. During the week, detachments from Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, as well as observers from Frontex, EMSA and the European External Action Service, practised real-time data-sharing through the EU’s Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE). The French Navy also contributed assets to a parallel side-exercise, underscoring the pan-European nature of the event. Finland’s eastern land border with Russia has been closed to regular passenger traffic since December 2023, and Helsinki has invested heavily in a new 200-km sensor-equipped fence and in maritime situational-awareness projects such as the Integrated Surveillance Mechanism (ISM). By hosting Marsec EU 26, Finnish authorities sought to test those new capabilities, demonstrate interoperability and show that the Baltic Sea’s underwater cables, gas pipelines and shipping lanes can be protected even under hybrid-threat conditions. Commander Ilja Iljin, who led the drill, said the aim was “to turn Europe’s common security goals into joint action on the water.” For employers moving staff into Finland or operating vessels and offshore projects in the northern Baltic, the exercise sends an important signal: emergency plans, boarding protocols and cross-border response chains are being actively honed. In practical terms, the lessons learned feed directly into faster clearance procedures for rescue- and border-control flights, more predictable port security measures and, ultimately, a more resilient logistics environment for multinational companies. Finland’s leadership role also gives corporate travel and global-mobility managers a clear point of contact in the event of a maritime disruption. The Border Guard said no personnel or equipment were damaged during the complex boarding manoeuvres, further validating Helsinki’s readiness to coordinate high-risk, multi-agency operations when commercial traffic or expatriate staff might be at stake.
Source: ePressi
