Much is said about Malta’s neutrality and that it is perhaps time to redraft the Constitution and rethink our position. The war in Libya showed that Malta cannot afford to remain neutral in times of crisis. But what would Malta get out of Nato protection? Michael Carabott joined Nato’s 2 Standing Mine Countermeasure Group on exercises with the AFM to find out what goes

on miles beyond

our shores

A sailor’s day starts early. I was at Grand Harbour for 5.30am, head still fuzzy and without having a mug of tea to start the day. This was not the first time I had joined a Nato fleet for navy exercises, but every time, the levels of activity at the quayside and on military ships so early in the morning amaze me.

Men in full uniform darted about and two sailors from the Turkish flagship Sokullu Mehmet Pasa took us on board. After winding through corridors, hatches, gangways and ladders, we were taken to the aft deck to watch the spectacular departure from Grand Harbour. When the light bounces off the bastions, it makes for a truly incredible sight.

One by one, the ships left their berths under the watchful eye of an AFM Austal inshore patrol boat. The precision with which it is done, all choreographed, is quite an experience. When we had steamed out about eight miles, we were told that the exercises were to begin. The fleet is composed of the flagship, under the command of Commodore Abdulhamit Sener, the HMS Ledbury, Spains’s M-34 Turia, The Turkish Navy’s Ancakoca, the Italian Navy’s Numana 5557, and a German Navy Frankenthal Class Mine Hunter. The AFM’s P-51 Protector also took part in formation sailing, ship to ship boarding and Rapid Deployment Team search and neutralise threat operations.

SNMCMG2, is a multinational, integrated maritime force – made up of vessels from various allied nations, training and operating together as a single team – that is permanently available to Nato to perform a wide range tasks, from participating in exercises to crisis response and real world operational missions. Usually, the Force is employed in the Mediterranean area but, when necessary, will be available anywhere Nato requires it to deploy.

Composition of the Force varies as naval units are provided by Nato-contributing nations on a rotation basis, while Command of the Force rotates among them. Nations routinely contributing to the Force are Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and Turkey. Other Nato nations have also occasionally contributed.

Mission

Nato has two Standing Maritime Groups (SNMGs) and two Standing Maritime Mine Countermeasure Groups (SNMCMGs). The latter provides the Alliance with a continuous mine countermeasures (MCM) capability for Nato Response Force (NRF) operations, non-NRF operations and other activities in peacetime and periods of crisis and conflict. The primary role of these forces, as standing elements of their respective NRF, is the full integration and participation in the NRF, providing maritime support to operations.

Operations

MCMFORMED and her sister force Mine Counter Measures Force North Western Europe (MCMFORNORTH) were tasked in June 1999 to operate in the Adriatic Sea to clear ordnance jettisoned during Operation Allied Force. The combined force comprised 11 Mine hunter/sweepers and a support ship from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States. It also involved a Forward Logistic Site (FLS) activated in Ancona by the Italian Navy with forward supply units from the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium.

The operation, named Allied Harvest, began on 9 June. Search activities began three days later and lasted 73 days. In total, 93 pieces of ordnance were located and cleared in the nine areas searched by Nato Forces, which encompassed 1,041 square nautical miles. The process of searching the sea floor and safely countermining ordnance was very difficult and challenging. The areas were thoroughly searched using the most advanced technological systems and the operation was safely concluded. MCMFORNORTH and MCMFORMED, having completed the assigned mission, returned to their normal activities.

The Force also periodically participates in Operation Active Endeavour, Nato’s maritime contribution to the fight against terrorism.

The Commander of the Fleet, Commodore Abdulhamit Sener, took time out of his busy schedule to give a short interview before we headed up to the bridge to watch the operation. “There are two main standing mine countermeasure groups and they function both in peace and war time,” he explained.

Although the fleet’s main responsibility is searching for and neutralizing mines in the busy ship lanes of the Mediterranean, Commodore Sener said the fleet also engages in anti-terrorism and ship searching operations while cruising. “We sometimes get indications from our HQ that suspicious ships might be engaging in illegal activities and that is where we intervene,” he said. He explained that the fleet might also notice ships that loiter in the sea lanes and this is often an indicator of illegal activity. “We come across smuggling of drugs and contraband and we take action,” he said.

The action that is taken is varied, but often culminates in the boarding of a ship to search for whatever threat there might be. The AFM’s Special Forces were in fact later tasked with investigating reports of a bomb on board a ship and the identification and seizure of ‘illegal drugs’. This operation involved the Flagship ordering a party to board from the AFM’s P-51.

The operations lasted a full day and the fleet headed on to Croatia where it trained with the local navy. The aim of training with local forces is to enhance interoperability – meaning working with local forces to deal with a situation should it arise.