On Friday, 11 November 2022 at 9 a.m., the task force provider "Bonn" will arrive at the Heppenser Groden naval base in Wilhelmshaven. After almost six months in action in the Aegean, the crew will first enjoy their holidays before the "Bonn" and her crew prepare for the next sea voyages in the coming year.
"For five months, the Einsatzgruppenversorger (EGV) 'Bonn' and its crew were part of the Standing Nato Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2) in the Aegean Sea area, helping to deal with the refugee crisis and once again separated from family, friends and acquaintances for a long time," says the commander, frigate captain Eike Deußen (48). During this deployment, the ship travelled with 181 soldiers and covered around 33,000 nautical miles.
"This is the third time that the crew and the ship have been deployed in the Aegean on this mission-like obligation and over the years it has been possible to observe how the neighbouring states have now adapted to the movement of refugees in the Aegean," says frigate captain Deußen. "The coast guards and naval units of Greece and Turkey, as well as Frontex units, are omnipresent in the area - which means the response times are short. It's no longer like 2016 in the first contingent, where you could see rubber dinghies and life jackets on the beaches in the mountains," he continues. Like our direct predecessor contingents, the "Bonn" has only been able to observe and report very few "crossings".
The highlight of this tour was the farewell of the frigate "Lübeck" from her last deployment.
Background information on the support mission in the Aegean Sea
On the initiative of Greece, Turkey and Germany, the NATO defence ministers decided on 10 February 2016 to contribute to European measures against migrant smuggling in the Aegean Sea. To this end, the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2) task force was deployed to the Aegean Sea. The task force is deployed in the Aegean Sea between the Turkish and Greek mainland. It currently consists of four to seven ships. The ships operate both on the high seas and, since March 2016, in the territorial waters of both neighbouring states.
NATO is providing support in the Aegean Sea area - the ships have no sovereign powers. It is not their task to stop vessels or take action against smugglers - neither in foreign territorial waters nor on the high seas. Such powers lie with the national coastguards and other competent authorities.
NATO is also helping to improve the exchange of information between the Greek and Turkish coastguards and the European Union Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex for border and coast guard operations in the Aegean. The ships provide Greek and Turkish authorities with information for a complete picture of the situation in the Aegean and on smuggling activities in the sea area. This is necessary in order to optimise the actions of the national authorities against smugglers and their networks.
Liaison officers from Turkish and Greek authorities as well as an official from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex are on board the German lead ship. They are the interface to their organisations and speed up the flow of information. In this respect, NATO serves as a cooperation platform for the neighbouring countries.
The Bundeswehr is participating with a warship and the unit is led by a captain at sea.
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