Germany’s Kiel Week is the largest sailing event in the world held annually in the last complete week in June. This year, the event will start June 18 and finish June 26.
Apart from numerous boats taking part in races, the event is graced by a number of German and international navy vessels.
German Naval Base Kiel will host ships from China, Estonia, France, Great Britain, Lithuania, the Netherlands and USA.
The ships are expected to enter the navy base on June 17 and sailors are set to participate in the “Navy Run” a day later. Open Ship events will be staged on three different days during the event.
German combat support ship EGV Berlin will serve as the flagship of the Kiel Week and host a concert by the Marinemusikkorps Kiel and the U.S. Naval Forces Europe Band.
Navy ships participating in the event are:
Chinese frigate ‘Xiang Tan’, Estonian minehunting and diving ships ‘Admiral Cowan’ and ‘Tasuja’, French minehunters ‘Sagittaire’ and ‘Pegase’, Royal Navy’s helicopter carrier HMS Ocean and training ships ‘Explorer’, ‘Biter’ and ‘Trumpeter’.
Other ships in attendance will be the Lithuanian ‘Jotvingis’, Dutch Navy’s ‘Johan de Witt’, ‘Zerikzee’, ‘Schiedam’ and ‘Luymes’, U.S. Navy’s command ship ‘Mount Whitney’ and NATO ships ‘Donau’, ‘Dillingen’, ‘Pembroke’, ‘Otra’ and ‘Vlaardingen’.