North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NATO Maritime Command
August 21, 2013
NATO Maritime Force Participates In Exercise Open Spirit 2013
BALTIC SEA: On Tuesday, 20 August 2013, the ships of Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) joined in Exercise OPEN SPIRIT 2013, the largest Historical Ordnance Disposal exercise in the Baltic this year.
OPEN SPIRIT is a Lithuanian-led annual multinational Partnership for Peace naval mine clearance and ordnance disposal operation, which will continue through the end of the month.
The ships of SNMCMG1, along with other mine-hunting capable ships from participating nations will hunt for mines, torpedoes and bombs laid in the Baltic during the First and the Second World Wars.
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“Conducting multinational operations also contributes to the enhancement of mutual understanding, cooperation and interoperability in mine countermeasure and EOD techniques, tactics and procedures.”
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