Hollow-deck boat "Pegnitz" replaces "Grömitz" in the Aegean Sea

Another minehunting boat deployed by NATO in the Mediterranean

On Monday, 17 June 2024 at 10 a.m., the hollow stem guided missile boat "Pegnitz" will leave its home port of Kiel. The boat, which belongs to the 3rd Minesweeper Squadron, will thus make the German contribution to the NATO support mission in the Aegean over the coming months. The Kiel boat has been refitted in recent weeks for deployment in the Mediterranean in order to fulfil its role as a command platform and thus provide the German contribution to NATO's Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 and the NATO support mission in the Aegean. It will replace the "Grömitz" there, which has been operating as a "flag boat" since mid-January.

For the commander, Lieutenant Captain Jenny Linken, and her crew, this is the first foreign deployment of a so-called "troopship platform", which otherwise only travels in the Baltic and North Sea. Now they are embarking on a long voyage to the Mediterranean. The task of the "Pegnitz" is to act as a command platform with all partners to ensure cooperation in a region that is important in terms of foreign and military policy. To this end, the German crew will also be accompanied by a Turkish and Greek liaison officer.