August 2009 Activation was between 05-25 August 2009 with Bulgaria in command.

The August 2009 Activation of BLACKSEAFOR included serialized training program during sea transits and port visits to following ports: Varna (Bulgaria), Sivastopol (Ukraine) and Novorossiysk (Russian Federation).

Change of Command Ceremony (COCC) was conducted in Varna on 09 August 2009 and the BLACKSEAFOR Command transferred from Ukraine to Bulgaria.

The focus of the August 2009 Activation was to further improve interoperability among naval forces, to review and experiment of the Sub-Concepts for Surface Search and Rescue (BSN-03), BSF Rules of Engagement (BSN-13), BSF Seamanship Procedures Draft (BSN-14) and Procedures and Common Ship’s Aviation Facilities For Helicopter Operations (BSN-15) to continue FORESC communication system experimentations. Nevertheless, the scope of the training encompassed further exercising of the adopted BSN Sub Concepts in order to improve the level of training and interoperability within the force.

The BLACKSEAFOR August 2009 Activation lasted for 19 days, of which 6 days was scheduled training at sea and 13 days in port.

On the 18 th of August, BLACKSEAFOR units received a distress call from Ukranian authorities stating that a small Ukranian yacht is missing. Upon receiving the distress call, COMBLACKSEAFOR quitted the scheduled plan and commenced a search and rescue operation in the area. BLACKSEAFOR ships except UPS SLAVUTICH conducted SAR operation out of Ukranian territorial waters. The helicopter embarked on TCG BARBAROS was also tasked during the operation. This recent experience has showed that BLACKSEAFOR has a unique capacity to execute this kind of unscheduled operations.

AUGUST 2009 ACTIVATION (05-25 AUGUST 2009)

Commanding Navy	:	Bulgarian Navy
OPBLACKSEAFOR	:	CMDR RUMEN NIKOLOV (Bulgaria)
COMBLACKSEAFOR	:	CMDR GEORGI MOTEV (Bulgaria)
Participating Units	:

Nation	Ship	Type	Hull Number
Bulgaria	BGS SMELI	KONI CLASS FREGATE	11
Georgia	NO GEORGIAN SHIP TOOK PART IN ACTIVATION
Romania	ROS EUSTATIU SEBASTIAN	TETAL II CLASS	265
Russian Federation	RFS CEZAR KUNIKOV	ROPUCHA CLASS	158
Turkey	TCG BARBAROS & ORGANIC HELO	BARBAROS CLASS	F-244
Ukraine	UPS SLAVUTICH	BAMBUK CLASS	U-510