Troops set sail after Nato’s Joint Warrior war games

Military: Rest and recreation in Granite City ends for 350 sailors

Sailors from eight Nato countries wave farewell to Aberdeen today as they set off on the next leg of their deployment.

Almost 350 crew members spent the weekend in the Granite City, enjoying some rest and recreation after taking part in a major exercise.

Some of the crews’ families flew in to join them in the city before they move on to Stavanger in Norway.

The vessels, including Royal Navy minehunter HMS Grimsby, together make up the Standing NATO Mine Countermea- sures Group CMG1).

It played a key role in the UK-led Joint Warrior war games off the Scottish coast, after making a 1,500- 1 ( SNM- mile trip through very heavy seas from the Baltic to join up.

This year, Joint Warrior was combined with Nato’s own Noble Mariner exercise, designed to test inter- operability, readiness and capabilities.

The exercises were disrupted foradaywhensome of the ships taking part were sent to monitor aRussian naval force headed past Britain bound for Syria.

Before that, the group had been deployed on its summer “fun”, a sweep of the northern coast of Norway for old bombs and mines.

Some 24 were discovered, eight destroyed and local forces notified of the rest.

The 450 “objects of interest” found by the specialist vessels included a bus, the Royal Navy reported.

Aberdeen was the 11th harbour visited since mid-July on the current mission, with seven stops to go as they perfect joint operations before getting a well- deserved Christmas break.

Estonian naval commander Johan-Elias Seljamaa, the first officer from his country to command such aNato group, welcomed local dignitaries on board for a reception.

“The weather smiled on us, which is unusual,” the 40-year-old joked on the deck of the German replenishment ship FGS Elbe, which serves as his HQ.

V i s i t i n g harbours around the world “showing the flag” of the Alliance was an important ambassadorial role of the group, he said.

The group includes ships from Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The biennial Joint Warrior military exercise is the largest of its kind in Europe, involving 67 aircraft and 31 warships and submarines.

“Some of the crews’ families flew in to join them for the weekend”

Photograph: Jim Irvine IN CHARGE: Captain Johan-Elias Seljamaa, commander of the Nato minesweepers group, on board the German supply ship FGS Elbe.

Minesweepers at anchor in Aberdeen harbour