NATO warships patrol Mediterranean Sea

Turkish frigate TCG Salihreis and Croatian missile boat Dubrovnik will patrol the Central Mediterranean for the next two weeks, integrated in NATO’s maritime security operation, Operation Sea Guardian (OSG).

This is the fifth focused patrol of the year, known as FOCOPS 22-5, and the second patrol in the Central Mediterranean.

In a press release, NATO say:

“The Task Group, led by flagship TCG Salihreis and HRV Dubrovnik, accompanies submarine, maritime patrol aircraft and airborne early warning units from Italy, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Türkiye and the United States.

FOCOPs maintain a multi-domain view of maritime activities and are part of the larger OSG effort that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year out of NATO Maritime Command (MARCOM) in Northwood, UK. These units share information, which is analysed to enable patterns-of-life in the Mediterranean and further investigate those activities which could potentially represent a threat to maritime security.

OSG is a non-Article 5 maritime security operation of NATO aimed at working with Mediterranean stakeholders and NATO partners to maintain maritime situational awareness, deter and counter terrorism and enhance capacity building, through cooperation and interoperability, promoting mutual benefits.”

The Alliance add that during this operation, TCG Salihreis will visit Tunis, Tunisia to “deepen partnership relations with the Tunisian Navy, followed by a Passing Exercise aimed to develop interoperability skills between the participating units”.