More than twenty destroyers, corvettes, frigates, submarines and patrol vessels from four different NATO nations have taken part in the Turkish exercise ‘Dogu Akdeniz 2013’ in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The exercise contemplated an asymmetric threat scenario where the participating units trained in both, conventional and maritime security operations.
Other training activities included counter-piracy operations, maritime embargo, non-combatant evacuations and search and rescue (SAR).
The three SNMG-2 ships under the command of Spanish RA Eugenio Díaz del Río –the Spanish frigate ‘Álvaro de Bazán’, German frigate ‘Sachsen’ and the Turkish frigate ‘Salihreis’– had the chance to enhance their training for the forthcoming deployment in Somali waters to fight piracy in the Indian Ocean.
The Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 is a naval task group ready to carry out all sorts of missions, from participation in exercises to crisis response missions. [mappress] Press Release, November 21, 2013; Image: Spanish Navy