HDMS ABSALON and FGS Hamburg in the Port of Haifa/Israel 7 Dec 2015 ©NATO Maritime Command Public Affairs Office
On December 7th, the NATO Standing Maritime Group-2 (SNMG2), with its current Flagship of FGS HAMBURG of Germany and HDMS ABSALON of the Royal Danish Navy visited port of Haifa in Israel. The visit was part of their mission in their journey to the Mediterranean Dialogue Partner-Nations.
During the visit the Crew from the NATO SNMG2 met, for an official discussion, with the Israelis Naval Force. Before the Flagships depart the port– there was a joint Military Exercise, designed to bring the NATO and Israeli Armed-Forces to the higher interoperability level at the Sea.
As a Mediterranean Dialogue Partner Nation with NATO, Israel has been playing a vital role, in the framework of NATO in the region, particularly in:
•Search and Rescue
•Humanitarian Relief Operations
•Counter-Terrorism
•And Emergency Planning
The NATO Standing Maritime Group-2 (SNMG2) with its current Flagship from Deutsche Marine and the Royal Danish Navy have been in deployment since September 2015– in NATO’s Counter-Piracy ‘Operation Ocean Shield’.
FGS Hamburg in Operation Atalanta Nov 2010©European Naval Force
The Bundeswehr’s Air-Defense Frigate GFS Hamburg, commissioned in German Navy in 2004, has been holding, as well, an irreplaceable part since 2010 in the European Naval Counter-Piracy Mission ‘The Operation Atalanta’
By Catherine Stella Schmidt
Europe in the World 