On Tuesday, five warships from NATO’s standing force, Standing NATO Maritime Group 1, were piloted into Frihamnen. The visit will be the first of its kind with Sweden as an ally and the ships will be moored between March 19 and the weekend.
Led by the Spanish flagship, the frigate ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón, Standing Nato Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) arrived in Stockholm and Frihamnen on Tuesday. The force is one of four standing forces within NATO with the main task of being able to be immediately deployed in operations at sea. Together with Swedish allied naval units, NATO’s defences in northern Europe, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea will now be strengthened.
The purpose of the naval visit is to demonstrate the strength of NATO’s maritime forces, which are constantly available for operations or threats to the alliance. The aim is also to rest the crews and replenish the ships’ supplies.
The vessels visiting Stockholm are Almirante Juan de Borbon, the German support vessel Bonn, the Italian frigate Luigi Rizzo, the French frigate Normandie, and the Norwegian frigate Otto Sverdrup.
During the week, it is unfortunately not possible to visit the ships on board, but if you want to get a glimpse of the five warships, they can be seen from a distance from the barriers at Frihamnen until the weekend when they leave.