From 11 to 18 October 2022 Ship Antonio Marceglia took part in the Grand African NEMO 2022 (Grand African Navy's Exercise for Maritime Operations), an operational cooperation exercise held in the waters of the Gulf of Guinea, which is annually co-organized by the French Marine Nationale and the Regional Maritime Security Centers of Central and West Africa.
The diversification of the scenarios characterized the respective training opportunities, from the simulations of activities of Counter Piracy, Search And Rescue (SAR) and anti-pollution operations to training aimed at combating trafficking in arms, drugs and illegal fishing. The various themes were developed by the marinas of the coastal countries and coordinated with the operational and coordination centers of the architecture of Yaoundé, an interregional organization promoting a common strategy to prevent and prosecute illegal activities in the waters of the Gulf. The core of the Grand African NEMO it is therefore to allow the members of this Architecture to acquire autonomy in contrasting and preventing the events that undermine maritime safety in the Gulf of Guinea.
In addition to the participation of the navies of the coastal states of the Gulf, as well as the United States and Brazil, also the naval units of the EU, such as Italy, France and Spain, in accordance with the European concept of Coordinated Maritime Presences (CMP), took part in the exercise, thereby strengthening cooperation and interoperability in the surveillance of the area.
There were also many European entities and projects involved in GANO, including the Support to West Africa Integrated Maritime Security (SWAIMS), the West and Central Africa Port Security (WeCAPS) and the Gulf of Guinea Inter-regional Network - Extension (GOGIN +), projects funded by the European Union to contribute to maritime safety in the Gulf of Guinea. The latter, specifically, promotes the development of coastal countries through the use of a platform for sharing maritime information, called YARIS (Yaoundé Architecture Regional Information System).
The international character of the Grand African NEMO also involves theUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which, starting from 2021, has set itself the objective of implementing the process of handing over personnel suspected of involvement in acts of piracy on the high seas between the riparian states.
The representatives of all the aforementioned bodies collaborated on board Nave Marceglia on the occasion of the last training window dedicated to an activity of Local Maritime Capacity Building in favor of the Togolese Navy. The unit of the Navy has in fact concluded its commitment in GANO 2022 after having cooperated with the unit of the Spanish Navy Flash of lightning, as well as with the patrol boats of the Gabonese Navy, of Sao Tome e Principle of use.
At the end of the practical phase carried out at sea, all the participants had the opportunity to compare the lessons learned and the lessons identified that emerged during the course of GANO 22, thanks to the organization of the final event held in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) .
Ship Marceglia has thus helped to spread the know-how belonging to the Italian Navy for the fight against and prevention of illegal activities at sea.
The crew of the Marceglia, at the end of the debriefing, resumed navigation in the warm waters of the Gulf of Guinea heading towards the Nigerian coasts to ensure surveillance and safety in the basin of the Western Africa.
