A team of Dutch and Swedish sailors and marines have returned from a three-month deployment to the Horn of Africa as part of the EU counter-piracy operation Atalanta.
Dutch Navy landing platform dock HNLMS Rotterdam returned to her homeport Den Helder on December 3 with an embarked Swedish boarding team and their two CB-90 fast attack craft.
During their time off the coast of Somalia, the joint Swedish and Dutch team helped train African maritime personnel deal with piracy in their waters. In addition to training with the Somali Coast Guard, the Kenyan Navy and Seychelles armed forces, the team collected information important for the creation of a maritime situational awareness picture in the region.
The Dutch-Swedish collaboration was the second time the Netherlands and Sweden have deployed their assets together. In 2015, the Swedish Force Commander; Rear Admiral Jonas Haggren embarked his battle staff on board HNLMS Johan de Witt.
Submarine rescue training agreement
In addition to amphibious cooperation, the two countries have also initiated joint submarine rescue training procedures with an agreement signed in Den Helder aboard the Swedish Navy submarine rescue ship HSwMS Belos. Under the agreement, sailors from the two navies will be conducting submarine escape training in addition to diving, salvage and diving medicine practice.