U.S. Naval Forces Europe – U.S. Naval Forces Africa
U.S. Sixth Fleet
November 26, 2013
HDMS Esbern Snare Engages with East African Boarding Teams During Cutlass Express
By Royal Danish Navy 1st Lt. Peter Hojgrav, HDMS Esbern Snare (L 17) Public Affairs
During Exercise Cutlass Express 2013, sailors assigned to the Danish naval ship HDMS Esbern Snare (L 17) worked closely with Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya forces in developing skills for their boarding team members.
“It is rewarding to see the everyday improvement in the way in which our African friends conduct boarding operations,” said Lt. Cmdr. Carsten Hansen, the ship’s operations officer and training coordinator. “They listened to our back-briefs and took onboard the tips and tricks in a very constructive and positive way.”
Cutlass Express, which took place Nov. 11-18, was a regional capability building exercise that took place along the coast of East African. The purpose of the exercise was to foster and further improve regional naval cooperation and understanding procedures to improve maritime security.
As a whole, Cutlass Express involved multiple events taking place simultaneously in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Mombasa, Kenya, Djibouti, Djibouti, and Port Victoria, Seychelles.
Esbern Snare is currently serving under Task Force 508, which is conducting counter-piracy missions in East Africa as part of the NATO mission Operation Ocean Shield.
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