The Scirocco frigate joins the NATO "Sea Guardian" operation

(To Marina Militare)
03/10/18

The frigate Sirocco of the Navy has left the port of La Spezia in recent days to rejoin the NATO naval device, composed of the Turkish frigate Yavuz and the Romanian frigate Regele Ferdinand, to participate in the operation Sea Guardian and take part in patrolling operations in the central Mediterranean along the main communication and maritime traffic routes.

The frigate Sirocco, under the command of the frigate captain Natale Pizzimenti, is a unit belonging to the Class Mistral. The ship was launched in Riva Trigoso on April 17 1982 and 28 on April 1983 entered service. The ship has a crew of about 160 men and women, including the specialized teams of the Marina San Marco Brigade and the military component of the Navy with an embarked AB212 helicopter.

NATO operation Sea Guardian

Established after the 2016 July NATO Summit in Warsaw, Operation Sea Guardian continues the activities of the previous Active Endeavor operation, set up in response to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States. Sea Guardian is a highly flexible operation that is able to provide a wide range of operational maritime security tasks including the surveillance of maritime spatial interests (Maritime Situational Awareness) and the fight against maritime terrorism, while ensuring training in favor of of the security forces of the riparian countries (Maritime Security Capacity-Building). In addition to these activities, the naval forces assigned to the operation can exercise maritime interdiction, protection of freedom of navigation, protection of sensitive maritime infrastructures and the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.