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NATO Operation Sea Guardian Maps Activities in the Central Mediterranean

NORTHWOOD, United Kingdom – NATO ships, provided by Greece, Italy, Portugal and Turkey, conducted focused security patrols in international waters of the central Mediterranean Sea as part of Operation Sea Guardian (OSG) April 14-30, 2017.

This focused security patrol concentrated on gathering pattern of life information about the shipping routes in international waters off the coast of Libya.

As a maritime security operation, OSG is charged with enhancing security throughout the international waters of the Mediterranean and works to reassure local and transiting mariners.

While conducting this focused security patrol, NATO ships interacted with smaller fishing vessels as well as large commercial shipping vessels. This information is collected and compiled at Allied Maritime Command Headquarters in Northwood, United Kingdom where it is analysed and distributed back to Allied Navies in order to help NATO better understand the environment in the central Mediterranean Sea.

While monitoring maritime traffic during this focused security patrol, NATO ships hailed more than 151 vessels and visited 3 vessels.

In addition to the ships, maritime patrol aircraft from Portugal provided reconnaissance coverage and Allied submarines also provided information on the area in direct support to the mission to build Maritime Situational Awareness. This combined information is used to help identify possible security concerns such as weapons smuggling or terrorist activity while at the same time increasing cooperation, flexibility and strength through unified effort.