A meeting of an eight-nation Arctic Coast Guard Forum is underway in Boston, USA. The meeting convened the heads of the coast guard services from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the United States and Russia, RIA Novosti reports.

Russia is represented by Vice Admiral Gennady Medvedev, deputy head of the Frontier Service of the Federal Security Service of Russia and head of the Coast Guard Department.

During the March 22-24 meeting, the heads of coast guard services will sign a joint statement to adopt a doctrine, tactics, procedures and information sharing protocols for emergency maritime response and combined operations in the Arctic.

A formal ceremony will be held on March 24 to mark the orderly transition of Forum Chairmanship from the US Coast Guard to the Finnish Border Guard.

The Arctic Coast Guard Forum was established by the Arctic Council countries in late October 2015 with the purpose of leveraging collective resources and fostering environmentally-responsible maritime activity in the Arctic.