BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 8. The Croatian military participated in a joint search and rescue operation for an Italian married couple whose boat sank in the northern Adriatic Sea, Trend reports.
In this operation, the Croatian Coast Guard deployed a GB-201 rubber boat from the Croatian Navy with four personnel, along with a Pilatus PC-9M aircraft from the Croatian Air Force, crewed by two pilots—the aircraft commander and the co-pilot.
Brigadier Damir Barišić, the aircraft commander, noted that the main challenge was the lack of precise information about the last known position of the missing persons, so the search area practically covered the entire western coast of Istria towards the open sea.
“The flight lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes, and we located the missing persons on our third pass after about half an hour of searching. Coast Guard and Harbor Master’s Office colleagues arrived at the location within about ten minutes after we sent them the coordinates via the Air Surveillance and Guidance Battle Officer,” said Brigadier Barišić.
Lieutenant Matej Ravlić, the co-pilot, said he was especially happy and proud that on his first flight supporting the Coast Guard, he successfully located the missing persons.
Officials from the Harbor Master’s Office in Pula thanked the Croatian Coast Guard and Air Force, emphasizing that without their involvement, the search would have taken much longer.
This coordinated search and rescue operation was initiated at the request of the National Coordination Center for Search and Rescue at Sea Rijeka – MRCC Rijeka.
The PC-9M aircraft was engaged in the northern Adriatic area, specifically along the western coast of Istria, from the Porer rock to the waters near the city of Poreč, while the rubber boat operated from the Vargarola harbor.
After being located, the Italian couple was transported by the rubber boat to the port of Pula, where they were taken over by Emergency Medical Services staff from the General Hospital Pula.
Thanks to the quick response and efficient cooperation of all involved services, the two Italian citizens were successfully found and rescued.
