Category: Security policy

Update: "Not during our watch!"

As previously reported, the German Navy is stepping up its activities on NATO's northern flank as a result of current developments and for reasons of alliance solidarity. On 28 February, the minehunting boats "Sulzbach-Rosenberg" and "Homburg", the minesweeper "Siegburg" and the tender "Elbe" departed for the Baltic Sea. In addition, the minesweepers "Datteln" and "Fulda" set off on the morning of 1 March. "Our signal is clear: not during our watch!" said the commander of the fleet, Vice Admiral Jan C. Kaack. On Saturday, 26 February, the corvette "Erfurt", originally intended for deployment as part of UNIFIL (off Lebanon), was commissioned in the presence of Parliamentary State Secretary...

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Ukraine has sunk its flagship in the harbour

A short message and the sad picture of a half-sunken frigate dated 3 March 2022 are seen as proof that the Ukrainian navy sank its flagship "Hetman Sagaidachny" itself. The Ukrainian defence minister has apparently confirmed this action. The 3,500-tonne Krivak III-class ship was originally built at a shipyard in Kerch on the east coast of the island of Crimea as the last of the eight Krivaks intended for the Soviet coast guard and was put into Ukrainian service in 1993. The 30-year-old frigate was undergoing repairs in one of the three large shipyards in the harbour city of Mykolaiv,...

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The German Navy in the Alliance

From the newsletter of the German Navy With four permanently deployable naval units, NATO is prepared for crises and conflicts at sea. Germany is involved in all of them. The permanent contribution of the German Navy The German Navy is continuously involved in NATO's four multinational naval units - the Standing Naval Forces. As an alliance partner, Germany has pledged to provide ships and boats for them on a permanent basis, even in peacetime. They are: Standing NATO Maritime Group 1, Standing NATO Maritime Group 2, Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2. This secondment of units to the alliance is known in the...

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The conflict and its impact at sea  

Many of the world's leading shipping lines, such as Kühne + Nagel and DHL, have cancelled their services and bookings to and from Russia. Liner shipping companies such as MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd have already cancelled their services to and from Russia as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia. The world's largest sea freight forwarder Kühne+Nagel is also suspending all import shipments to the Russian Federation "with immediate effect", "with the exception of pharmaceutical, healthcare and humanitarian shipments". DHL explains that it will not accept any shipments to these countries. For the safety of its employees, DHL has also closed its offices and operations in...

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Briefly explained: Montreux Convention

Turkey has closed the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to Russian ships. On 24.02.22, Ukraine called on Turkey to take this measure. Various agencies then reported that Turkey had closed the passage to the Black Sea. On 26.02.22 Reuters reported that this was a rumour and in fact no official announcement had been made at the time. The confusion has now ended. On 28/02/22, Ankara announced that NATO member Turkey was preventing Russian warships from entering Ukraine via the Black Sea. President Erdogan had previously condemned the attack on Ukraine. The Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu referred...

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