Home  /  Media Centre  /  News  /  2018  /  Operation Sea Guardian: Italian frigate engages the fishing community

Operation Sea Guardian: Italian frigate engages the fishing community

MEDITERRANEAN SEA - On the morning of September 18, ITS Espero, flag ship of NATO’s Operation Sea Guardian Task Group, paid a visit onboard a local fishing vessel. The fishing vessel’s five crew members welcomed on board a delegation from ITS Espero and provided providing valuable information regarding the situation at sea in the central Mediterranean. This improvement in regional maritime understanding is pivotal in ensuring maritime security for all. It underpins NATO’s Maritime Situational Awareness Approach (MSAA), wherein Operation Sea Guardian units engage with the crews of merchant and fishing vessel and explain the purposes of the Operation Sea Guardian. In return, NATO often obtains important information concerning patterns of life in the area. Operation Sea Guardian conducts a series of focused security patrols annually, aimed at furthering its three core missions of maritime situational awareness, counter-terrorism and capacity building. The current patrol involves NATO ships provided by Italy, Croatia and the United Kingdom operating in the central Mediterranean Sea. The ships are supported by Maritime Patrol Aircrafts from Allied Nations.