Frigate ‘Álvaro de Bazán’ returns to Ferrol after deployment in Northern Europe.

Last July 11th, frigate ‘Álvaro de Bazán’ (F-101) returned to her homeport in Ferrol after a three-month deployment in the North and Baltic Seas and Casablanca (Morocco). The F-101 was integrated into the Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG-1) participating in many international exercises to maintain training levels and meet Alliance targets. The frigate sailed a total of 16,000 nautical miles and visited 7 different nations.

In Scottish waters the F-101 joined other NATO warships like the ‘Niels Juel’ (Denmark), ‘Gediz’ (Turkey) and ‘Erfurt’ (Germany).

After her first port of call in Glasgow she took part in Exercise ‘Joint Warrior-181’ managed by the Royal Navy. After that, the frigate proceeded towards European and Moroccan waters visiting Corunna, Casablanca and Amsterdam.

In June, the ‘Álvaro de Bazán’ participated in Exercise BALTOPS organized by the U.S. Navy in Baltic waters, where she also took part in one of the most important naval parades in the world, the German Naval Week in Kiel.

The F-101 later integrated in SNMG-1 once again to participate in Exercise ‘Dynamic Mongoose’ to focus on antisubmarine drills and 24-hour day training. This was a novel experience for the ship sailing within the Arctic Circle for the first time.