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NATO warships arrive in Constanta harbor
Four NATO warships, part of the Standing NATO Mines Counter Measures Two - SNMCMG-2 have arrived on Thursday afternoon in Constanta Harbor, for a five-day stopover.
According to the spokesperson of the Naval Forces HQ (SMFN), lt. col. Corneliu Pavel, the visit is part of the International Activity Plan of the Romanian Naval Forces for this year and is part of the line of developing relations between Romanian sailors and the alliance partners, the SNMCMG-2 Group being a multinational force specialized in mining-demining operations, part of the NATO Maritime Command, which is currently on a navigation-safety mission.
Led by Italian Captain Giovanni Piegaja, SNMCMG-2 is currently composed of the Italian frigate ITS Aviere (flagship), the Italian minehunter ITS Rimini, the Royal Navy minehunter HMS Chiddingfold (UK) and Turkish minehunter TCG Akcay.
SNMCMG-2's mission in the Black Sea is to consolidate maritime security in the area, running joint exercises with Romanian and Bulgarian sailors during the BREEZE 2014 exercise.
On Friday, joint training activities of the Romanian and foreign sailors in port are programmed, as well as a visit of the official delegation to the Fleet Command and the Constanta County Prefecture, as well as a press conference aboard the ITS Aviere, held by Commodore Dan MacKeigan, Deputy Chief Of Staff Operations, NATO Maritime Command, Captain Giovanni Piegaja and Captain Tiberiu Chodan, Commander of the Fleet.
The SNMCMG-2 vessels will depart from Constanta harbor on Monday, subsequently carrying out exercises at sea, together with dredgers 'Locotenent Lupu Dinescu' and 'Sublocotenent Alexandru Axente', the frigate 'Regina Maria' and a Puma Naval helicopter.