On Thursday, 4 June 2026, at 10 a.m., the frigate "Baden-Württemberg" will set sail for the mandated foreign mission UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon).

The crew, under the command of frigate captain Bastian Saphörster, will carry out maritime surveillance and training for the Lebanese navy off the Lebanese coast. The frigate will initially deploy to Cyprus in the Mediterranean.

The “Baden - Württemberg" was deployed to UNIFIL for the first time from October 2023 to January 2024, directly after the terrorist attack on Israel by the radical Islamic organisation Hamas. The frigate "Nordrhein-Westfalen„ is currently on site and waiting to be replaced. The Class 125 sister ship “Sachsen-Anhalt" has also already been deployed in the region, meaning that there is sufficient experience in the well-prepared crew.

The security situation in the eastern Mediterranean has not improved since then. Nevertheless, the UNIFIL mission, which has been operated by the German Navy since 2006, will end at the end of 2026. Initially with several units under the command of a flotilla admiral. In the last 20 years, speedboats, tenders, minesweepers and, at the beginning, speedboats were deployed.

In addition to the regular crew, the crew of the "Baden-Württemberg" will also include shipboard personnel from the Eckernförde naval battalion; the ship will set sail with around 170 servicemen and women.

Text: Marine Press and Information Centre (red.)