EU Naval Force Warships Meet at Sea for Exchange of Stores and Christmas Gifts

Dec 26, 2013 - 14:12
EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta warships FGS Hessen and ESPS Tornado recently met at sea whilst conducting Counter Piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.

On 23 December the FGS Hessen and ESPS Tornado conducted a Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP) which is a transfer of items from one ship to another by the use of a helicopter.

FGS Hessen was sailing southwards in order to conduct Focused Counter Piracy Operations off the East Coast of Somalia whilst ESPS Tornado was heading northwards towards the Gulf of Aden before calling at Djibouti in a few days.

The transfer was conducted using the Lynx Helicopter from FGS Hessen and as well as exchanging stores the ships took the opportunity to transfer some Christmas gifts. Also during the replenishment the ships took the opportunity to conduct some Fast Roping training using the helicopter from FGS Hessen. During the replenishment the ships played Christmas music over the main broadcasts.

FGS Hessen is a German Sachsen Class frigate and joined Operation Atalanta in early December 2013 for a period of 4 months, ESPS Tornado is a Spanish Meteoro Class Offshore Patrol Vessel that also joined the operation in early December 2013. Read more about EU NAVFORs deployed units here.

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