Four ships from NATO’s Standing NATO Mine Counter-Measures Group TWO (SNMCMG2) arrived in Batumi, Georgia on February 12.
The fifth member of the Group, Italian Navy minehunter Gaeta, will arrive later in the visit.
Under the command of Captain Ramazan Kesgin , Turkish Navy, the Group includes the flagship TCG Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasa (Turkey) and the mine counter-measures vessels TCG Edremit (Turkey), ESPS Tambre (Spain), ITS Gaeta, and ROS SLT. Alexandru Axente from Romania.
Captain Kesgin said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to visit Batumi, and to exercise and interact with the Georgian Coast Guard. This visit is a vital part of the NATO calendar for 2016 and is a significant event.”
In conjunction with the port visit by SNMCMG2, NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Giorgio Lazio, Italian Navy, conducted a courtesy visit to the port, and met with Georgian officials, including the director of the Georgian Coast Guard.
Upon conclusion of the visit ashore, SNMCMG2’s ships conducted a series of exercises at sea with the Georgian Coast Guard, enhancing their search and rescue, boarding, and tactical maneuvering skill sets, and giving each other’s Sailors a chance to observe operations aboard one another’s ships, in a cross-pollination exercise.
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