NATO ships in the Port of Gdańsk
By Marek Grzybowski
11 NATO ships moored in the Gdańsk port. These are ships operating as part of the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Ships Group 1 (SNMCMG-1). The ships are in the port of Gdansk from April 4th to April 7th.
At the Defenders of Westerplatte Quay moored: the Belgian Tripartite-class minehunter Lobelia (M921), the Estonian Sandown-class minehunter EML Sakala (M314), the Dutch Alkmaar-class minehunter HNLMS Schiedam (M860), the Lithuanian Hunt-class minehunter LKL Kuršis (M54), the Latvian Vidar-class minehunter Virsaitis (A53), the German Elbe-class supply ship FGS Mosel (A512), also the flagship of the group, the Frankenthal-class minehunters FGS Weilheim (M1059) and FGS Datteln (M1068), as well as the Ensdorf-class minehunter FGS Pegnitz (M1090), the Norwegian Oksøy-class minehunter Hinnøy M343 and the Swedish Landsort-class minehunter HSwMS Ulvön (M77).
NATO ships took part in a series of exercises in the Baltic Sea. One of the exercises consisted of performing combat tasks as part of the “Baltic MCM”. The aim of the NATO ships’ exercises was to improve combat capabilities, strengthen coordination, response to threats, and develop interoperability and communication during operations on the high seas.
Minehunters are taking part in the allied mission codenamed “Baltic Sentry”. This mission was launched in mid-January 2025. It is a response to incidents related to damage to critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, power cables and pipelines.
While moored in the port of Gdansk, the ships that are part of the NATO team, as well as the others operating within the task force commanded by COMBALTRON (Command of Baltic Naval Squadron), are in constant combat readiness. The ships are ready to perform tasks within the framework of “Baltic Sentry”. They are also ready to operate in “Baltic MCM”.