On 20th of August 2013, the ships of Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) joined in Exercise OPEN SPIRIT 2013, the largest Historical Ordnance Disposal exercise in the Baltic this year.
OPEN SPIRIT is a Lithuanian-led annual multinational Partnership for Peace naval mine clearance and ordnance disposal operation, which will continue through the end of the month.
The ships of SNMCMG1, along with other mine-hunting capable ships from participating nations will hunt for mines, torpedoes and bombs laid in the Baltic during the First and the Second World Wars.
The aim of the operation is to clear the sea lines of communication, international shipping routes and fishing areas from the threat posed by the explosives that are lying dormant at the bottom of the sea.
“Once we complete the exercise, the countries bordering the Baltic Sea will benefit from reduced risks for navigation, fishing and the ecological environment in the Eastern Baltic,” said SNMCMG1’s Commander Piotr Sikora. “Conducting multinational operations also contributes to the enhancement of mutual understanding, cooperation and interoperability in mine countermeasure and EOD techniques, tactics and procedures.”
[mappress] Press Release, August 27, 2013; Image: NATO ACO