The Cyprus Joint Rescue Coordination Center or JRCC Larnaca (Greek: ) is an independent agency of the Ministry of Defence of the

Republic of Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third lar ...

and its primary mission is to organize the national

Search and Rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR) system, to co-ordinate, to control and direct SAR operations in the region that the Cyprus JRCC is responsible for (which coincides with the Nicosia

FIR Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

), so that people, whose lives are at risk as a result of aviation or maritime accidents, can be located and rescued in the least amount of time. This is achieved by coordinating all the different agencies involved such as,

Cyprus Police The Cyprus Police (, ''i''), is the national police service of the Republic of Cyprus, falling under the Ministry of Justice and Public Order since 1993. The duties and responsibilities of the Cyprus police are set out in the amended Police La ...

(Including Port and Marine Police, Cyprus Fire Service and

Cyprus Police Aviation Unit The Cyprus Police Aviation Unit (CPAU) (, is the police aviation unit of the Headquarters of Cyprus Police, the national police of the Republic of Cyprus and was established on 10 June 2008, having previously operated as the Cyprus Police Air Win ...

), the

Cypriot National Guard The National Guard of Cyprus (), also known as the Greek Cypriot National Guard or simply the National Guard, is the military force of the Republic of Cyprus. It consists of air, land, sea and special forces elements, and is highly integrated wit ...

, the Cyprus Civil Defence and other secondary Units, acting as a communications agent between them, so that they do not conduct overlapping searches and waste time by searching areas already searched by other units and in general help all the different units operate as a single larger in numbers unit, eliminating any other problems that might occur. It is under the operational control of the Minister of Defence and it is staffed by qualified personnel of the

Cyprus National Guard The National Guard of Cyprus (), also known as the Greek Cypriot National Guard or simply the National Guard, is the military force of the Republic of Cyprus. It consists of air, land, sea and special forces elements, and is highly integrated wit ...

, mainly from the branches of the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

and the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

and with all logistic and technical support is the responsibility of the Ministry of Communications & Works. Τhe Joint Rescue Coordination Center is located to in the city of Larnaca in a new owned building near of Larnaca Airport.

History

The Cyprus Joint Rescue Coordination Center was established by Law 5(III)/94 and started operating on a trial 24-hour basis on the 7th of August 1995 as an independent unit of the Cyprus Air Force Command.
On March 1, 2002 by decision of the Ministry Cabinet the JRCC undertook formally the responsibility for organizing, coordinating and monitoring, search and rescue operations, in the region that the Republic of Cyprus is responsible for.
The JRCC functioned as such until the 26th of July, 2010. Following the relevant opinion of Attorney General for the provisions of Law 5 (III) / 1994 (on Research - Rescue Ratification Act) JRCC reports directly to the Minister of Defence and operates as an independent agency of the Ministry of Defence.

2023 Sudan crisis

The JRCC haδ played a pivotal role for incoming

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, w ...

who were evacuated from

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

during the 2023 conflict in processing them and giving them temporary accommodation in the

under the national "ESTIA" plan until they were moved to

RAF Akrotiri Royal Air Force Akrotiri, commonly abbreviated RAF Akrotiri (; ) is a large Royal Air Force (RAF) military airbase on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which comprise Akroti ...

and repatriated to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The Cypriot authorities were thanked for their help by the

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also known as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Defence. As a senior minister, the incumbent is a member of the ...

, Ben Wallace and later the British High Commissioner to Cyprus
Irfan-siddiq
It also played a role in helping the evacuation and subsequent repatratiation of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

citizens.

Amalthea initiative

As a result of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

which re-erupted on

October 7 Events Pre-1600 * 3761 BC – The epoch reference date (start) of the modern Hebrew calendar. * 1403 – Venetian–Genoese wars: The Genoese fleet under a French admiral is defeated by a Venetian fleet at the Battle of Modon. * 1477 ...

after a

hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

led terrorist attack on

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, due to the offensive in

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

, it had become increasingly difficult to get aid into Palestinian territories. As such, the Cypriot government proposed the Amalthea initiative, which was aid, starting from

Larnaca Larnaca, also spelled Larnaka, is a city on the southeast coast of Cyprus and the capital of the Larnaca District, district of the same name. With a district population of 155.000 in 2021, it is the third largest city in the country after Nicosi ...

port being sent to Gaza by sea. After weeks of planning, it was approved of by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

and began sending aid, with the first ship arriving on March 17. Both

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...

and

Roberta Metsola Roberta Metsola (; ; born 18 January 1979) is a Malta, Maltese politician who has served as the president of the European Parliament since January 2022. She is a member of Malta's Nationalist Party (Malta), Nationalist Party (PN) and the European ...

visited the JRCC and thanked them for their work in co-ordinating the initiative.

Training activities

The JRCC is also responsible for training and advising other countries on their Search and Rescue skills and plans. In August of 2024 the JRCC signed an agreement with

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in order to train its staff on search and rescue procedures and begun training their staff from July 30 to August 2nd.

Cyprus search and rescue region (SRR)

The Cyprus search and rescue region (SRR) coincides with the Nicosia FIR as described in the current Air Navigation Plan of the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

(ICAO).

Distress frequencies

The internationally established frequencies to be used for Distress and Safety and monitored by Search and Rescue are: * 518 kHz NAVTEX (Maritime safety information) * 121.5 MHz International civil aviation distress frequency * 243.0 MHz International military aviation distress frequency * 156.8 MHz (CH-16) International maritime call and distress frequency * 156.525 MHz (CH-70) * 2187.5 kHz * 4207.5 kHz * 6312.0 kHz * 8414.5 kHz * 12577.0 kHz * 16804.5 kHz * 2182 kHz International maritime call and distress frequency on MF * 406.025 MHz Transmission frequency of EPIRB, ELT and PLB of the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite system JRCC Larnaca maintains continued monitoring of the following frequencies: * 121.5 MHz VHF/AM * 134.0 MHz VHF/AM (Common of Initial Contact with JRCC) * 243.0 MHz UHF/AM * 255.0 MHz UHF/AM (Common of Initial Contact with JRCC) * 156.8 MHz (CH-16) VHF/FM * 2182 kHz MF/HF The DSC frequencies mentioned above are monitored by Cyprus Coast Station (Cyprus Radio) * 518 kHz NAVTEX Note that: JRCC uses the

NATO phonetic alphabet The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or simply the Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear-code words for communicating the letters of the Latin/Roman ...

for communicating characters in English and the standard Greek phonetic alphabet () for communicating characters in Greek.

References

{{reflist

External links

*http://www.jrcc-cyprus.mod.gov.cy *http://www.mod.gov.cy Rescue agencies Government agencies established in 1995 Rescue coordination centres JRCC