Rear Admiral John Newton, Commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic issued the following statement on Friday 19th September, regarding a port visit of the Norwegian Navy vessel His Norwegian Majesty’s Ship (HNoMS) Fridtjof Nansen:
“To the commander and sailors of HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen, it is my pleasure to welcome you for your two day port visit to Halifax during your successful mission in the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.
During your deployment, you worked with our West Coast counterparts as the first Norwegian naval ship to participate in Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2014. Moreover you worked alongside Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Athabaskan to commemorate a significant milestone in North American history at the Star Spangled 200 Spectacular in Baltimore, Maryland.
Your visit – while short – will, I am sure, be enjoyable. As circumpolar neighbours, Canada and Norway share many similar interests; we are maritime countries, long-time Arctic partners and share similar views on approaches to international peace and security. It is not surprising that Canada has historically maintained a solid foundation of defence cooperation with Norway, more recently through exercises, training, high-level visits and operations such as the NATO-led Afghanistan and Libyan missions.
Our countries are both founding members of NATO and are firmly committed to the Alliance and strong trans-Atlantic relations.
To this end, the visit of HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen and the skilled crew is most welcome and looked forward to by the defence team of Maritime Forces Atlantic. “
[mappress] Press Release, September 22, 2014; Image: Wikimedia