German corvette, FGS Erfurt, part of EU Naval Force since August 2015, has changed her crew after six months of counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa.
“Charlie” crew passed charge of the Atalanta corvette to “Delta” crew, which is led by Commander Thomas Klitzsch. Proud of their achievements but looking forward to seeing their families, “Charlie” crew left their home of six months in a changeover ceremony in Djibouti, where, in a speech on the flight deck, the outgoing Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Robert Schmidt, expressed his gratitude for a job well-done: “I thank you all for your hard work over these last months. We have given proof to the fact that a corvette is capable of making a significant contribution to the fight against piracy in the Horn of Africa.”
The new crew will spend FGS Erfurt’s remaining weeks with Atalanta conducting counter-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, before sailing to the Eastern Mediterranean to join United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon.
“I am confident our successors will fulfill this duty as good as needed,” Lieutenant Commander Schmidt told the crew, wishing ‘a fair wind and following seas’ (good luck) to the incoming German team.