Portuguese frigate takes over duties as EU Naval Force flag ship
The Portuguese Frigate NRP Álvares Cabral joined the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia – Operation Atalanta on 6 April 2013, in Djibouti.
During her participation in Operation Atalanta, for the next 4 months, Álvares Cabral will be the EU Naval Force flagship, hosting the Force Commander and his multinational staff on board.
Photo credit: EUNAVFOR
NRP Álvares Cabral is a multipurpose MEKO class frigate, 116 meters in length and 3400 tonnes displacement. Among other missions, she had in the past 2 deployments in theStanding NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), 5 in theStanding Naval Force North Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) and 2 in theEuropean Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR).
Speaking about the preparations for joining the Operation, the Commanding Officer, Captain Nuno Sobral Domingues, said: “After a long and demanding period of training and certification, we´re ready to conduct a wide spectrum of naval operations as a national contribution for the stability and security worldwide. The crew is well prepared and all the systems, weapons and sensors, are fully operational and ready to deployment”.
Before joining the EU Naval Force, NRP Álvares Cabral went through an intense training program, including the Portuguese Navy Basic Training, theOperational Sea Training in Plymouth – United Kingdom, and finally the Portuguese Training for Counter-Piracy Deployment.
Source: EU NAVFOR
