Operation Sophia comes under Spanish command at sea

August 31, 2017August 31, 2017 Nicolas Gros Verheyde

*The Cantabria which will serve as flagship for Operation Sophia / EUNAVFOR Med (credit: MOD Spain)*

(B2) From now on, it is Spain which will ensure the "in-zone" tactical command of the EUNAVFOR Med/Sophia operation. Spanish Rear Admiral Javier Moreno Susanna replaces Italian Rear Admiral Andrea Romani. He will exercise his command as of September 1 aboard the supply ship BAC Cantabria (A-15). For the occasion, the two Ministers of Defense the Italian Roberta Pinotti and the Spanish Maria Dolores Cospedal had made the trip to the port of Taranto, where the Italian ship "San Giusto- on which the flag changing ceremony took place - was moored.

A loyal contributor

Since Operation Sophia began in 2015, Spain has participated uninterruptedly and always as one of its main contributors » underlined the Minister . A reality. Madrid provides both maritime means – the frigate Victoria has been present since June 24 in the operation – and aerial. A tactical air detachment (DAT), called "Grappa", operates from the air base Sigonella (Sicilia). Composed of 38 members of the Air Force, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Rafael de Quintana Díaz, it operated 250 missions, ensuring 2.000 flight hours.

A multinational command

It should be noted that the command (strategic = political) of the operation remains ensured by an Italian admiral, Enrico Credendino, assisted by a French rear-admiral Gilles Boidevezi (read: A new number 2 at the head of the EUNAVFOR Med operation), from the ground HQ, based in Rome.

A good Italian-Spanish understanding

This Italian-Spanish relay is to be linked with a reverse relay carried out within the other maritime operation of the European Union, in the Indian Ocean, where the Spaniards passed the baton to the Italians last July (read: An Italian will take command of the EUNAVFOR Atalanta force). The two Mediterranean countries thus assume responsibility for European naval operations.

This allows them to ensure a notable presence in strategic places (Indian Ocean, Mediterranean) for their two countries (1), and to be able to claim a leading role at maritime level, while allowing their navies to safeguard a certain operational budget and to prove their usefulness. It may be a little trivial, but it is a not inconsiderable reality today.

(NGV)

(1) Spain was one of the countries at the initiative, with France, of the EUNAVFOR Atalanta operation.