NATO’s Operation Sea Guardian (OSG) Task Group recently completed its sixth focused maritime patrol of the year in the Western Mediterranean Sea and off the Strait of Gibraltar.
The sixth focused operation (FOCOPS 23-6) involved monitoring maritime traffic along major sea lines of communication, collecting data on patterns-of-life, and fostering cooperation with NATO partners Morocco and Algeria.
Ships, submarines and aircraft of 8 NATO nations directly supported the Operation Sea Guardian throughout the year 2023 with a total of 379 sailing days and 86 air sorties flown.
Embarked on board the Spanish frigate ESPS Santa Maria, a NATO staff led by Commander Francisco Garcia Flores (ESP N) spent 16 days at sea, visiting 7 vessels and investigating 1146 different ships.
According to a news release from NATO:
“During these patrols, the flagship was supported by submarines and maritime patrol aircraft from Portugal and Spain. OSG Task Group executed passing exercises (PASSEX) with the Royal Moroccan SIGMA 9813 class frigate Sultan Moulay Ismail (614) and the Algerian vessel “701” El Mounjid. These exercises covered various warfare areas, including tactical communication and advanced manoeuvering, furthering cooperation between navies and enhancing coordination and interoperability. The engagements with NATO Partners Morocco and Algeria underscored the importance of these vital operations in strengthening maritime security in the Mediterranean.”
Spain needs to cede Ceuta to Morocco….. just sayin….
And Melilla?
Well Yes mate….. It’s not a place that get’s mentioned much but If Spain wants to play the Gib Card then why not. It always makes me wonder to be honest.
Lots of hypocrisy on their part whenever they play the Gib card, have to agree with you. Can’t understand why those two enclaves never really crop up either!
Gibraltar is a UK sovereign Territory and has been since 1713, when it was officially signed over to Britain by Spain.
The population wants to remain British subjects, so that’s it.
Spain itself was signed over to the EU, so Madrid has given up it’s rights to demand anything quite frankly, is Brussels, the organ grinder demanding it back, or is it just the Spanish monkey jumping up and down?
Bravo.
Happy new year mate….
And a Happy New Year to you, John.
If they wanted gib they shouldn’t have signed off on it maybe we should demand menorca back.
Spain wasn’t held at gunpoint at Utrecht they should have read the small print. Now they should just stop the whingeing
I was in Gibraltar a couple of months ago and the population are not happy with what they refer to as their n having been dropped into an oubliette(french for forgotten). Due to the pathetic size of the RN ships don’t get in there often and the economy has suffered from it we should never forget about how important the rock is. A NATO squadron should be a permanent station there. Maybe a forward based type 31 and a river could be based there as the royal navy Mediterranean squadron.or (⚓flotilla). which is one way to show that the nation… Read more »
I see the freedom class edU.S.S Sioux city has returned to san Diego after a five month deployment she was the first to have the coupling issues fixed she had no issues throughout the deployment maybe a loan with the option to buy for one of the class which has been fitted with the New mechanics might be worth looking at.