Nato force in Grand Harbour for goodwill visit

A naval force of six frigates and a destroyer from Nato's Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (Stanavformed) yesterday entered Grand Harbour for a short goodwill visit until tomorrow.

The force, headed by the German frigate Schleswig-Holstein, the flagship, was recently engaged in Operation Active Endeavour against terrorism.

The German Navy's Rear Admiral Hans-Jochen Witthauer, Commander of Stanavformed, said on board the Schleswig-Holstein soon after her arrival that the aim of the call was to enable the crews to rest between operations.

Another aim of the visit was to exchange information about operations with the local military authorities.

Stanavformed units make regular calls in ports to show the Nato flag and to show Nato's willingness to become good partners to everyone, he said.

Asked about the importance of Nato in modern times, Rear Admiral Witthauer said that Nato today was geared to jump into action when required.

"The United Nations is a powerful organisation but judging from events in the past years, a very long time had to pass before it took action. Nato has enough assets to act promptly at the request of the UN," he said.

Rear Admiral Witthauer added that Stanavformed has over the past months been engaged in Operation Active Endeavour, patrolling the Mediterranean with the aim of intercepting and disturbing any movement of ships that might have a direct link with terrorism, be it by transporting terrorists or by doing other illegal operations for the funding of terrorist groups.

From Malta the force will go to Morocco.

Stanavformed was established as a Nato immediate reaction force in Naples in April 1992 and since then it has participated in Nato peace support operations related to the crises in the former republic of Yugoslavia and, more recently, in Operation Active Endeavour.

The ships within the force rotate every few months, with routine activities consisting of an intensive programme of training and participation in both Nato and national exercises.

The command of Stanavformed also rotates among the participating countries every 12 months. Germany took command of the force in September.

Nations normally contributing to Stanavformed are Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, the UK and the US.

Apart from the German flagship Schleswig-Holstein the force in Grand Harbour includes the US destroyer Stout and the frigates Gaziantep of Turkey, Psara of Greece, the Portland of the UK, the Zeffiro of Italy and the Asturias of Spain.

The seven ships carry a total complement of about 1,500 sailors and officers.