The Expero frigate of the Navy started the 23 April from the naval base of Taranto, to participate in the NATO Sea Guardian Operation.
In the next days the ship will reach the port of Aksaz, in Turkey, to rejoin the NATO naval group. Nave Espero after a phase of integration and training with the other allied ships, will leave the Turkish port Monday 28 April, to begin the patrolling operations in the eastern Mediterranean, which will end the next 13 May.
Born after the NATO summit in Warsaw in July 2016, Operation Sea Guardian replaces the previous Operation Active Endeavor, which was established in response to the terrorist attacks against the United States of September 11, 2001. Sea Guardian is a highly flexible operation that is able to guarantee a wide range of operational maritime security tasks that include the surveillance of maritime spaces of interest (Maritime Situational Awareness) and the fight against maritime terrorism, while ensuring training for the security forces of coastal countries ( Maritime Security Capacity-Building). In addition to these activities, the naval forces assigned to the operation can exercise maritime interdiction, the protection of freedom of navigation, the protection of sensitive maritime infrastructures and the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The Espero frigate, under the command of the frigate captain Giorgio Ochetto, is a missile and anti-submarine unit belonging to the Maestrale Class. Built in the Riva Trigoso shipyard, the ship was launched on November 19, 1983 and entered service on May 4, 1985. The ship has a crew of about 160 men and women, including the specialized teams of the Marina San Marco Brigade and the Air component of the Italian Navy with an AB212 helicopter on board