On Thursday 4 June 2015, a Dutch Marine boarding team that has been embarked on board Operation Atalanta warship, FGS Bayern, is returning home to the Netherlands after completing a successful six-month counter-piracy deployment.
The Dutch Marines were tasked to conduct boarding operations in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden to deter and disrupt acts of piracy. They also held meetings at sea with local fishermen to better understand their concerns and to explain the role of the EU Naval Force in helping to keep the seas safer from pirate attack.
Speaking about their deployment, the leader of the Dutch boarding team, Second Lieutenant Koen stated “When we first embarked FGS Bayern we had to get used to a new language. Additionally, there were some differences in our procedures and tactics, but after a few weeks we had built up excellent cooperation with the German sailors and between us we developed some new, improved procedures for friendly approaches. We were given a warm welcome on board. It was a great experience and hopefully this type of cooperation between the Dutch and German Navy will continue.”
The commanding officer of FGS Bayern, Commander Frank Fähnrich, added “It is quite common for the German Navy to cooperate with other navies, however, it was my first time to command a crew from different nationalities. Our Dutch comrades did a great job blending into the ship’s company and I knew that I could depend on their professionalism 100% of the time.”