The 'Regele Ferdinand' frigate is in the Mediterranean Sea between May 13 and June 11, participating in ship traffic monitoring missions, as part of the EUNAVFOR MED IRINI Operation carried out under the auspices of the European Union, the Romanian Navy General Staff (SMFN) announced on Wednesday.
The ship with 239 crew onboard called in the ports of Catania in Sicily and Souda - Crete Island to restore its combat capacity.
"In the Italian port of Catania, deputy consul Dr. Ioan Iacob from the local Romanian Consulate was on an official visit aboard the military ship, to greet the crew and to convey his appreciation for the Romanian Navy performing their duty in order to improve the security system in the Mediterranean Basin. Frigate commander George-Victor Durea presented to the Romanian diplomat the ship's capabilities and its missions in the IRINI scope of responsibility. After leaving the port of Catania, the frigate resumed its mission of monitoring of merchant ships transiting the area of responsibility of the EU-led operation," the SMFN release states.
As of June 1, when it docked in the port of Souda on the Island of Crete, 'Regele Ferdinand' had carried out over a hundred queries of merchant ships and the frigate's verification team had performed random visits on board merchant vessels, for the presentation of the EUNAVFOR MED IRINI Operation in the Mediterranean Sea.
The frigate 'Regele Ferdinand' left on June 4 from the port of Souda to continue its vessel traffic monitoring mission under the EUNAVFOR MED Operation IRINI. AGERPRES