International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office

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Last update 16 Jun 2008

News History Last update 16 Jun 2008

Please follow this link for updates SMERWG 2008

24 Nations Meet off Arendal, Norway for BOLD MONARCH Submarine Escape and Rescue Exercise


Russian DSRV AS-34 surveys Polish Submarine SEP	Italian ADS launched for POD Posting serial NOR SM UTHAUG

RFN AS 34, NLD DOLFIJN and NOR TYR	Inside NSRS SRV

ISMERLO Starts Global Rescue Response Analysis

In an effort to support development of dormant rescue plans to support submarine rescue response, the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office has started a long term project help nations evaluate rescue response scenarios to Air Port and Sea Port combinations around the globe. The chart below gives a general outline of rescuable waters. Focus of the study will be to look at submarine homeports, operating areas, available rescue systems and response timelines to determine areas of coverage.

Go to the protected area for rescue coordination and exchange of information (link to the left). Access to this area is limited to military and government organizations or personnel and their direct representatives that deal with submarine search and rescue. If you meet this criteria and have not previously been granted access, click the link on the left menu for Access Registration.

This website provides a source of information about Submarine Escape and Rescue (SMER) and to facilitate the rapid call out of international rescue systems in the event of a submarine accident (ISMERLO phones at this link).

The Submarine Escape and Rescue Working Group (SMERWG) is the authority for ISMERLO. All submarine operating nations are strongly recommended to attend. SMERWG covers technical and procedural issues concerning all aspects of the subject with the aim of sharing information and establishing mutually accepted standards for design and operation of SMER systems. This is also a forum wherein problems are briefed, exercises and their lessons learned discussed, and invitations to attend or observe those exercises are made. It is a gathering of the principal experts in this field and is an opportunity to establish contact with them that is unmatched.

One of the important issues to arise after the KURSK tragedy, underlined by other peacetime submarine disasters, was the need for an international liaison service to coordinate rescue efforts in case of further submarine disasters and make those accidents less likely to occur. This has evolved into the concept of the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office (ISMERLO). This office consists of an international team of submarine escape and rescue experts based at Norfolk Virginia in the USA. The aim of ISMERLO is to establish endorsed procedures as the international standard for submarine escape and rescue using consultation and consensus among submarine operating nations. Advise on training and procurement as well as an inspection and monitoring service is also a task assumed by this organization.

All nations are invited to forward details of their SMER facilities and capabilities for inclusion in the following pages. Please note that all contributions to this system of systems, however minor, will be of use and may well generate requests to participate in future exercises. Forward details for inclusion to webmaster@ismerlo.org.

The information contained within this website is divided into a Public Access area and a Limited Access area. Access to the Limited areas is provided to the submarine operating authorities, and the members thereof, in those nations that apply for access. Access is obtained by following the link to the left for access registration. If you have difficulty with the registration process send an email to the webmaster@ismerlo.org.
For contact by mail: ISMERLO, C/O Commander U.S. Submarine Forces, 7958 Blandy Rd., Norfolk, VA 23551-2492.

Media queries about ISMERLO should be directed to 1-757-836-1650

News Archive

16 Nations Meet off Western Australia for Pacific Reach Submarine Escape and Rescue Exercise


JMSDF DSRV preparing to launch	US Atmospheric Diving Suit being launched

After escaping from a submarine an Australian escapee awaits rescue	ROKN Lee Eok-Gi one of the practice disabled submarines

With JMSDF CHIHAYA and HMAS COLLINS in the background sailors test abandon ship and survival equipment

Sixteen nations joined up off Western Australia to practice multinational submarine rescue techniques.

Training and Adventure

Russians join the Royal Navy for submarine escape training (VIDEO)

23 Nov 06

For the first time ever officers from the Russian Navy have been taking part in submarine escape training at the Royal Navy's specialist training facility, the Submarine Escape Training Tank (SETT), at Fort Blockhouse in Gosport.

Russian Navy trainees at the Royal Navy SETT. These are the first Russian trainees to undergo the submarine escape training at the world-renowned training centre
[Picture: LA(Phot) Emz Tucker]

Invited by the Ministry of Defence, the Russian officers from Moscow and St Petersburg received five days of specialist submarine escape and rescue training, including an ascent from a depth of 30 metres. The visit also provided a useful forum for joint discussions with the Russian team adding valuable input and expertise.

This is the latest bilateral meeting in the Anglo-Russian naval co-operation programme that includes staff talks, information exchange and practical training. The two navies have already co-operated actively in this area, and one of the Russian team present was involved in the rescue operation of the Russian rescue vessel Priz AS-28 in August 2005, when the Royal Navy provided active support to this operation by sending the SCORPIO remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

More recently, representatives from the Royal Navy visited the Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol to discuss areas of mutual interest and co-operation in submarine rescue. Tri-national co-operation in the field of submarine rescue between the UK, Norway and France has included collaboration on the new submarine rescue vehicle, the Submarine Rescue System, which the Royal Navy will receive in 2007.

Captain Dmitri Podkayev said:

"The facilities at the SETT are first class and it has been a pleasure to work with the submariners of the Royal Navy. We always prefer to meet each other face to face and the training has been invaluable. The sharing of expertise is so important in this environment."

Getting kitted out; one of the Russian trainees prepares for the submarine escape training
[Picture: LA(Phot) Emz Tucker]

The Submarine Escape Training Tank was built in 1954, after a review of submarine incidents showed that many submariners were not well equipped or trained for escaping from submarines. The tank, a world-leading centre of excellence that has trained submariners and civilian support staff from over 16 nations in the last 52 years, supports a 100ft column of fresh, chlorinated water. At its core are the 30-metre water escape tower and its staff of 24 Royal Navy submariners.

Apart from occasional shut-down periods for maintenance work the tank has been operational continuously since it was first commissioned. Approximately 1,500 submariners per year, in addition to submariners from other navies, are trained at the SETT. The five Russian Navy officers were representatives from the Main Naval Staff Directorate of Search and Rescue, the Naval Institute of Underwater Research and the Quick Response Rescue Unit.

Lieutenant Commander Bob Mannion, the Royal Navy officer who runs the SETT, said:

"We have been delighted to host our Russian colleagues and hope they have learnt something of value during their time with us. Equally we have benefited from hearing of their experiences."

Lieutenant Commander Eamonn Grennan, Assistant Naval Attaché, Moscow, added:

"The Russian Navy and Royal Navy have been co-operating very successfully for many years. This is just the latest event in a busy programme of bilateral naval interaction and long may it continue."

Russia Recognizes Two U.S. Officers for Help in Sub Rescue

By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service, Navy Newsstand, 1 Mar 06

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Underneath a portrait of Czar Peter the Great, the Russian Ambassador to the United States presented two U.S. officers with the Order of Friendship for their parts in rescuing submariners trapped underwater off the Kamchatka peninsula in August.

Ambassador Yuri V. Ushakov presented the awards, the highest honor to non-Russian citizens, to Air Force Maj. Patrick Poon and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Steve Smith at the Russian Embassy here. Both men said it was due to the combined efforts of all on the team that seven Russian submariners survived their Priz AS-28 deep submergence submarine ordeal.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Gen. Peter Pace and Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph attended the ceremony.

Aug. 5, 2005, the 45-foot long craft became entangled in discarded fishing nets in Russian Far East waters. The disabled submarine was stuck at 600 feet, and time was a crucial factor in rescuing the crew.

"I got the call at 8 a.m. and by 1 p.m. I was on a plane heading toward Kamchatka," said Poon, commander of Detachment 1, 36th Contingency Response Group, at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

When Smith was alerted to go to the site from his naval base at North Island, Calif., there was talk that the Russian crew only had 12 to 14 hours of oxygen. "That was revised up as we went to the area, but you never know for sure," he said.

Both men and their units joined Russian Navy and Air Force, British Royal Navy and Japanese Navy personnel in the rescue effort. A Royal Navy remotely operated vehicle - the Scorpio - cut the Russian sub free. The craft rose to the surface with just six hours of oxygen left, according to published accounts.

Smith said the experience in Kamchatka was unforgettable. There was a lot of "relief and backslapping," he said, when the submarine popped to the surface and the Russian crew came out.

Poon said there was "fantastic cooperation" from the Russian service members on the ground and among the international crews.

Ushakov praised the international rescue mission. "Thanks to their courage and efficient well-coordinated work, the submarine was released from underwater captivity, and all seven crew members were brought to safety," the ambassador said.

He said that even the Cold War never interrupted the tradition of mutual assistance at sea. "Even while Russian and American submarines and battleships were playing their cat-and-mouse game, naval officers were always ready to extend a helping hand to each other," Ushakov said.

Multinational effort successfully rescues crew of
stricken Russian DSV

Crew members of Russian deep-water rescue submersible vehicle AS-28 "Priz" from left: Valery Lepetukha, commander Vyacheslav Milashevsky, Anatoliy Popov, Sergei Belozerov, Alexander Uibin, Alexander Ivanov and Gennady Bolonin, pose for a picture in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Monday, Aug. 8, 2005. The Seven Russian sailors trapped for three days on the ocean floor in a small submarine off Russia's Pacific coast were rescued alive and well Aug. 7 after a team effort by British, Russian and US forces deployed a British ROV to cut the vessel free of nets. Additional forces from Japan and the Shell Oil operated DSND Surveyor were racing to the site to support the rescue. (AP Photo/Tatyana Makeyeva, Pool)