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OPERATION SEA GUARDIAN
At the NATO Warsaw Summit in July 2016, NATO announced the transformation of our Active Endeavour counter-terrorism mission in the Mediterranean to a broader maritime security operation. The new operation received the name Operation Sea Guardian.
MISSION
Operation Sea Guardian is a non-Article 5 maritime security operation aimed at working with Mediterranean stakeholders to maintain maritime situational awareness, deter and counter terrorism and enhance capacity building.
Some of the tasks include: supporting maritime situational awareness, upholding freedom of
navigation, conducting interdiction tasks, maritime counter-terrorism, contributing to
capacity building, countering proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and protecting critical infrastructure.
COMMAND
Operation Sea Guardian is led by Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) in Northwood, United Kingdom.
Sea Guardian is a fusion of information to create a comprehensive picture of daily activities in the Mediterranean, and MARCOM serves as the hub of maritime security information sharing for the Alliance. NATO requests forces from Allied nations to support this operation in various ways through active, standby, or associated support. Thus, the supporting numbers of ships, aircraft, personnel, and Allied operations centres vary throughout the running of the this operation.