Three ships of the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 (SNMCMG1) piered in Klaipėda Thursday. ORP X. Czernicki (511) (Poland), EML Ugandi (M315) (Estonia) and FS Pegase (M644) (France) will stay in Klaipėda till Sunday. It is a routine call to provide rest and resupplying time for NATO ships and crews after the execution of tasks in the Baltic Sea and intense training on the Open Spirit 2026 mine clearance effort.
SNMCMG1 is currently under the command of Poland’s Commander Kacper Sterne who met with Commander of the Lithuanian Navy Captain (Navy) Tadas Jablonskis and Vice Mayor of the City of Klaipėda Giedrius Didjurgis.
SNMCMG1 command will pass on to the Lithuanian Navy as of June 30 according to the six-month rotation of command principle which applies to each of NATO’s maritime groups. This demonstration of NATO Allied trust and cooperation is a significant moment in the Lithuanian Navy’s history.
Four standing maritime groups are subordinate to the Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM). SNMCMG1 and SNMCMG2 are composed primarily of mine countermeasures ships. SNMG1 and SNMG2 comprise frigates and warships. The numbers on group names denote the area of responsibility: 1 for Northern European waters, 2 –for Southern European.
Photo credit: LTJG Lukas Šperas.
