The European Maritime Force celebrates its 20th Anniversary in Cartagena

The offshore patrol boat ‘Relámpago’ hosted last Friday in Cartagena the ceremony to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the European Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR), and was expressly activated to take part in the mine countermeasures exercise ‘Spanish Minex-15’.

The ceremony was presided over by the Spanish Fleet Commander, Admiral Santiago Bolibar and was attended by representatives from France, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Turkey.

As of September 18th 2013, and for two years, Spain holds command of EUROMARFOR.

EUROMARFOR is a non-standing naval force which is arranged and sized depending on the goals, force type, organization and logistic requirements. It can operate independently or integrated into other task forces.

Since its establishment back in 1995 by Spain, France, Portugal and Italy, EUROMARFOR has taken part in many international operations and exercises, among them the United Nations peace-keeping operation in the Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the counter-piracy operation ‘Atalanta’ in the Indian Ocean.