NATO’s SNMG2 concludes Black Sea tour

Ships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) met with Turkish Navy units in the Aegean Sea as they wrapped up 20 days of operations in the Black Sea.

Led by the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan, SNMG2 ships rendezvoused with Turkish fast patrol boats TCG Mızrak and TCG Volkan after transiting the straits from the Black to the Aegean Sea on May 20.

The passing exercise with the Turkish Navy was aimed at increasing interoperability and included counter-surface vessel warfare tactics at night.

During their time in the Black Sea, SNMG2 participated in Romanian exercise Sea Shield and conducted port visits to Constanta, Romania and Poti, Georgia.

In addition to HMS Duncan, SNMG2 is currently constituted by German frigate FGS Bayern, Spanish frigate ESPS Victoria and Turkish frigate TCG Gemlik.

The regular group units were joined by Bulgarian frigate BGS Drazki and Romanian frigate ROS Regele Ferdinand during Black Sea operations.

The group is one of four multinational, integrated maritime forces composed of vessels from various allied countries. These groups provide NATO with a continuous maritime capability and help to establish alliance presence, demonstrate solidarity, conduct routine diplomatic visits and enhance interoperability among allied naval forces. They also serve as a consistently ready maritime force to support the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF).