A three-way border guard exercise of Estonia, Russia and Finland JUBILEX-2004 begin on Wednesday in the Gulf of Finland

A three-way border guard exercise of Estonia, Russia and Finland JUBILEX-2004 begin on Wednesday in the Gulf of Finland in the area of the Finnish town of Kotka. The exercise aims to practice coordination of efforts in rescue operations. Urmo Kohv, head of the press service of Estonia's border department, said that the three countries will each contribute one border ship and one helicopter. Estonia will be represented by the border vessel Vapper (Bold) and a border air group helicopter. Russian sources say that the Russian border ship Karelia and a helicopter will participate in the exercise. The organizer of the exercise - Finland - will also provide some auxiliary ships. In addition to border guards, the exercise will also involve police, rescue teams and workers of the environmental protection department. The scenario of the exercise in the Gulf of Finland is built around a simulated capture of a vessel by terrorists. The ship is blown up and begins to sink. Finnish frontier guards are to carry out a rescue operation on the high seas, assisted by Estonian and Russian opposite numbers. The tasks facing the border guards of the three countries include evacuating passengers and crew and rendering first aid to victims. This is the tenth joint exercise at sea involving Estonian, Russian and Finnish border guards. Exercises are held annually on the territory of one of the three countries. Last year a similar exercise codenamed Nargen-2003 was held in Estonia's territorial waters.