On 5 October, EU Naval Force Warship, FGS Berlin conducted her twenty-first and final Replenishment at Sea (RAS) as part of EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta with the EU Naval Force Flagship ITS Andrea Doria.
The EU Force Commander, Rear Admiral Guido Rando and nine members of the Force Headquarters Staff embarked in the Italian Destroyer ITS Andrea Doria, visited the German Support Vessel by way of the FGS Berlin’s SH-3D Sea King Helicopter.
The Captain of FGS Berlin, Commander Marcel Rosenbohm, welcomed the Force Commander onboard and accompanied him to the bridge where he viewed the entire Replenishment at Sea manoeuvre.
The visit gave Admiral Rando a chance to thank the Commanding Officer and crew of the ship personally for their valuable contribution to Operation Atalanta as both a warship, support vessel and ‘floating hospital’ with its impressive medical facilities and medical personnel embarked. The Force Commander then returned with his team to ITS Andrea Doria.
Shortly after the final RAS with the Flagship ITS Andrea Doria, FGS Berlin returned to the Port of Djibouti to conduct her handover to the FGS Lübeck.
FGS Berlin joined Operation Atalanta in July and during her deployment in addition to 21 Replenishments at Sea has conducted capacity building in Djibouti and the Seychelles, escorted a World Food Programme Vessel as well as conducted counter-piracy operations and port visits throughout the area of operation. The ship will return to her home port of Wilhelmshaven arriving at the end of October.
[mappress] Press Release, October 10, 2014; Image: EU NAVFOR