NATO ships secure Baltic Sea

SNMG1, consisting of the Netherlands flagship HNLMS Rotterdam (L800) and the Danish frigate HDMS Peter Wilemoes, is operating in the Baltic Sea to enhance maritime situational awareness and to further improve interoperability with allies as part of a planned deployment to the area.

Exercises include training with Standing NATO Mine-Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) which is currently made up of German minehunter FGS Bad Bevensen, Latvian mine countermeasure command and support ship LVN Virsatis, and Estonian minehunter ENS Sakala.

Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) began a scheduled visit to Gdynia, Poland, Jan 21. A NATO Ally, Poland, regularly hosts NATO ships for port visits as part of their routine presence in the Baltic Sea.

SNMG1 and SNMCMG1 are two of the four multinational, high readiness maritime forces composed of vessels from various allied countries. These vessels are permanently available to NATO to perform different tasks ranging from participation in exercises to operational missions. These groups provide NATO with a continuous maritime capability and help to establish Alliance presence, demonstrate solidarity, conduct routine diplomatic visits and enhance interoperability among Allied naval forces. They also serve as a consistently ready maritime force of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF).