On January 21-24 the Spanish frigate Almirante Juan De Borbon F102, Luigi Rizzo F595 (Italy) and logidtic supply ships Cantabria A15 (Spain) and Bonn A1413 (Germany), four ships of Standing NATO Maritime Group1 (SNMG1) are visiting the Port of Klaipėda. Rear Admiral Joaquín Ruiz Escagedo in charge of SNMG1 as of January 11 has met with Commander of the Lithuanian Navy Captain Giedrius Premeneckas and Mayor of Klaipėda Arvydas Vaitkus.
The (SNMG1) flagship, ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbon (F102) is a 146 meters long new F-100 class Spanish frigate. Commissioned with the Spanish Navy in 2003, she is armed with missiles of different modifications, mostly airborne target defence, also anti-ship torpedoes, anti-ship artillery weaponry and a SH-60B LAMPS III Seahawk helicopter. The principal profile of the frigate is air defence. It sails at maximum speed of 28 knots and is operated by a crew of approx. 250.
NATO has four standing maritime groups. Two of them, SNMG1 and SNMG2, comprise large-sized surface warfarer ship, such as frigates and destroyers. The other two, SNMCMG1 and SNMCMG2, comprise mine countermeasures ships. The numbers in the group names indicate their areas of responsibility, 1 stands for the Northern European, and 2 for the Southern European waters.
Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 accompanied by Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 visited Klaipėda just last December under leadership of Rear Admiral Thorsten Marx.
The friendly port visits underline the strength of NATO-Lithuania commitment and the important role Lithuania has in NATO. SNMG1 ships are currently on duty in composition of Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 sailing in the Baltic Sea to showcase NATO solidarity and collective defence commitments.
Photo credit: PO3 Akvilė Bertulė.
