OPV ‘Audaz’ concludes her participation in Exercise ‘Obangame Express 23’ (OE 23).

The offshore patrol vessel ‘Audaz’ has completed a one-month deployment in the West African coast and the Gulf of Guinea. One of her main duties during this period has been the participation in the West and Central Africa's largest multinational maritime exercise, ‘Obangame Express 23’. Twenty coastal African countries and twelve allied nations have collaborated in this edition. This endeavor supports the so-called ‘Yaoundé Architecture’, established by regional countries to combat illegal activities in the area and protect the maritime interests of all those concerned in the Gulf of Guinea.

The ‘Audaz’ has cooperated this year with five African countries of the Gulf of Guinea (namely, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria), operating in the 40% of the surveillance zones of the ‘Yaoundé Architecture’. Thanks to the naval capabilities and human resources provided by Spain, our country has been one of the most prominent contributors to OE 23, thus underlining the commitment to the security and stability of the region.

Italy, Portugal and France have also deployed naval units to cooperate with this exercise within the framework of the European Union's Coordinated Maritime Presences (CMPs) in the Gulf of Guinea. The aim of this mechanism is to ensure a permanent maritime presence and readiness, to foster international maritime cooperation and to provide greater European operational capability. In this way, the ‘Audaz’ carried out a series of drills together with the Italian Navy ship ‘Foscari’ and interacted with a maritime patrol aircraft of the French ‘Marine Nationale’.

Spain was present, along with the United States, at the closing ceremony in Lagos hosted by the Nigerian Navy.