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Standing NATO Maritime Group One completes NOCO-16

GDYNIA, Poland - Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) arrived in Gdynia, Poland after two weeks in the Baltic Sea participating in Exercise NORTHERN COASTS 16 (NOCO-16). The Frigate ESPS MENDEZ NUNEZ – the Group´s Flag Ship, NRP ALVARES CABRAL, FGS LUDWIGSHAFEN AM RHEIN and BNS LEOPOLD I participated in this year edition of exercise NOCO-16, a Baltic Sea exercise occurring annually since 2007.

Northern Coasts is a German invitational naval exercise, this year the exercise was sponsored in conjunction with the Royal Danish Navy. This large-scale exercise aims to practice the interoperability of multi-national forces while participating in peace stabilization, conflict prevention and crisis managements scenarios.

Naval units, including submarines and naval aviation from NATO and partner nations including Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, France, Canada, Finland and the United States participated in this year exercise. This year NOCO-16 brought together SNMG1 and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) which trained together as a single Task Group.

Rear Admiral Delgado expressed how this exercise contributed to enhancing NATO ability to meet present and future challenges in a littoral environment. "I´m very pleased to have had the opportunity to train together with SNMCMG1, as a single Task Group, in an always complex littoral environment, like the Baltic Sea.” said Rear Admiral Delgado. "NOCO-16 has proved NATO Standing Forces ability to effectively combine with other allied units, building a larger Force ready to operate in a very short period of time.”

Before heading to the port of Gdynia, SNMG1 participated in naval manoeuvres with the Polish frigate ORP General T. Kosciuszko (F273).