The "SEABORDER 5" exercise took place in Taranto from 9 to 2016 September.
The "SEABORDER", organized annually since 2008, is part of the "5 + 5" international cooperation agreement, born in Paris on 21 December 2004 following the "Declaration of Intent" signed by the defense ministers of the two shores of Western Mediterranean: north shore (France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain) and south shore (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia).
The 5 + 5 Defense Initiative is based on cooperation in activities concerning common needs on both shores of the Mediterranean, namely maritime surveillance, civil protection - in an ever-growing context of human security (aimed at the protection of individuals) - air safety, and its development therefore makes it possible to consider the Mediterranean, for now limited to the western dimension, from a collective cooperation perspective.
At the "SEABORDER 2016", together with observers and guests of high military rank belonging to the countries signatories of the agreement, the following naval structures participated: the Italian frigate Libeccio - headquarters of the tactical command at sea -, the Algerian landing unit Kalaat Beni Rached, the French patrol Premiere maitre l'Her, the Maltese coastal patrol boat P52, the Spanish corvette Infanta Elena, the Moroccan patrol Bir-Anzarane.
Rear Admiral Pasquale Guerra, commander of the Naval Air Training Center of the Navy, was responsible for the conduct of the exercise, who during the welcome address underlined the strategic importance of cooperation between the two shores of the Mediterranean, a theme that subsequently resumed during the visits aboard the naval units of the device.
The "SEABORDER 2016" was developed in two phases, one in port and one at sea, where, within a pre-established scenario, the staff first trained in the knowledge of each other's procedures on the topic of "maritime security operations", and subsequently, in the executive phase, the conduct at sea of inspection and boarding activities on suspicious merchant vessels (simulated in rotation by units of the device), the correct exchange of information and the rescue of human life at sea.
With the units at anchor in the Mar Grande in Taranto, the final act of the exercise took place aboard Libeccio: "the hot wash up", a post-exercise analysis that Rear Admiral Guerra wanted to conclude by thanking everyone the participants for their excellent commitment and exceptional results.
On the occasion, the admiral underlined the importance of cooperation and mutual knowledge in terms of maritime safety, addressing the best wishes to the French delegation which, together with the Moroccan one, will organize the next edition of the SEABORDER.
