Hamburg Departs

The German frigate Hamburg has finished as an EU NAVFOR warship after 116 days duty under the European Flag.

She has been successful in all the assigned tasks. The crew of Hamburg has always been ready for any duties and showed a proactive attitude to face diverse challenges in order to achieve the objectives of EU NAVFOR.

During her days at sea, she has spent a good deal of her time protecting the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor in Gulf of Aden, one of the world´s busiest sea routes, escorting two World Food Program (WFP) transports as well as surface scans and patrolling the Somali coast.

On 17 December, FGS HAMBURG joined forces with the Combined Maritime Force (CMF) to evacuate a crew member from the MV HANNIBAL II after reports were received that he had a possible appendicitis. FGS HAMBURG also aided in evacuating an injured sailor from a German owned Container Vessel.

In his farewell signal to the German frigate the EU NAVFOR Force Commander Juan Rodriguez stated: “Your advice has always been timely and accurate and your support to me and my staff has been outstanding. Congratulations on the outstanding morale, dedication and professionalism of your Ship Company, including air and medical detachment and the Estonian Vessel Protection Detachment”.