Allied Maritime Command

NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) has congratulated Gökçen Fırat after she was promoted to admiral, making her the first woman in the history of the Turkish Navy to hold the rank, citing that her position is of critical importance for maritime operations within the alliance.

Greek and Turkish naval and air forces took part in a NATO "enhanced vigilance activity" last week, with a British destroyer also involved with the two countries' forces.

The common operation, which was part of a much larger exercise, called "Neptune Strike 23-2," was presented as one more step toward cooperation and interoperability between Greek and Turkish forces.

Türkiye is hosting a NATO navy exercise that started on Sept. 11 and will end on Sept. 22 in the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea as it is designated as the organization's maritime command.

More than 2,400 troops from eight states, 18 warships and 10 aircraft participate, between March 19 and 29, in "Sea Shield 21" - the largest and most complex NATO multinational exercise organized by the Romanian Naval Forces, in 2021, in the Black Sea area.

The Romanian Naval Forces have released, on Monday, command of the Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 2 (SNMCMG-2), informs, on Tuesday, a press release sent by the Naval Forces General Staff. According to the quoted source, the event took place, as a first, through videoconference, as a preventive measure in the international epidemiological context given by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The staff of Turkish Navy frigate TCG Gaziantep, which is on a Mediterranean duty to support NATO's Operation Sea Guardian, rescued 30 migrants on a drifting dingy off Libya.

Spotting the unregistered migrants on the boat, the frigate intervened.

Romania will take over on Thursday the command of NATO's SNMCMG - 2 Standing Mine Countermeasures Group 2, the Romanian Chief of Navy Defence Staff reported in a statement released on Monday. The SNMCMG-2 command, provided by Captain Commodore Valentin-Catalin Vlad, will be exercised, for six months from the Romanian Navy's Vice Amiral Constantin Balescu (PM-274) mine sweeper command ship.

An under-sea photo showing two Turkish frogmen posing with a Turkish flag in a sea area north of the Greek island of Crete was taken down from the Twitter account of the NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) on Wednesday after protests lodged by the Hellenic Navy at the prompting of Defense Minister Evangelos Apostolakis.

Romania's Chief of Staff of Navy Staff (SMFN) Alexandru Mirsu said in Constanta Port on Friday that besides enhancing interoperability, Poseidon 19 demonstrates that Black Sea navigation is free, safe and open to commercial routes in accordance with international regulations.

Regele Ferdinand frigate left the Constanta Port on Monday to represent the Romanian Navy in two international missions in the Mediterranean Sea, September 27 - October 24, in line with Romania's commitments to NATO partners, according to a press statement released by the Romanian Navy.