Monday, December 16, took place on board the frigate Halifax of the Canadian Navy, moored at the Naval Station Mar Grande of Taranto, the ceremony of the passage of command of the Second permanent Naval Group of NATO, the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2).
In the presence of team admiral Hervé Bléjean, deputy commander of NATO Maritime Command (MARCOM), and commander of the second naval division of the Navy (COMDINAV 2), divisional admiral Paolo Pezzutti, commander Josée Kurtz of the Canadian navy, has given the command to rear-admiral Paolo Fantoni, who will conduct the operations from the frigate board Carabiniere, the flag ship of the group, until June 2020. The ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Defense of Canada, Harjit Sajjan.
The Standing Naval Forces (SNFs) are maritime forces with a multinational composition, available to NATO, for conducting exercise and operational activities, in order to guarantee a continuous maritime and deterrence capacity, to help demonstrate Alliance solidarity and ensure a first response from the sea to crises. The SNFs constitute the maritime core of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force and contribute to supporting the capacities of the Partner Countries in the southern Flank of the Alliance (Regional Capacity Building). The SNFs are made up of multinational maritime forces employed by the Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) of Northwood (GBR) and the Naval Forces employed are an integral part of the NATO Responce Force.
