Hetman Sahaydachniy frigate to act jointly with Norwegian, Danish, U.S., Dutch navies in NATO counter-piracy mission*

"The flagship of the Ukrainian Navy, Hetman Sahaydachniy frigate, as part of NATO's counter-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa - Operation Ocean Shield will perform combat missions within a naval group of the Alliance along with the naval forces of Norway, Denmark, the U.S. and the Netherlands, Ukrinform has learnt from Ukraine's military representative at NATO, Major-General Anatoliy Petrenko."

"Together with the Ukrainian forces and resources in the area of operation there will be a command ship of the Norwegian Navy, Danish Navy frigate, U.S. Navy destroyer, Danish Navy maritime patrol aircraft, Dutch Navy submarine," Major-General Petrenko said. He said that the command of the multinational naval task force will be carried out by Norway's representative, Commodore Henning Amundsen. Major General Petrenko noted that the Ukrainian Navy frigate Hetman Sahaydachniy along with the decked helicopter Ka-27, and a special operations team (review team) will be located off the Horn of Africa as part of participation in the Operation Ocean Shield in the period from September 2013 to January 2014. "From a purely military point of view, the involvement of the Ukrainian Navy in carrying out anti-piracy combat missions at sea is a unique opportunity to improve the level of training of Ukrainian forces and resources to perform tasks in the far sea zone in close cooperation with the naval forces of other countries," Petrenko emphasized. As reported, after participating in the Operation Ocean Shield from January 2014, the Ukrainian Navy frigate Hetman Sahaidachniy will continue to perform its combat mission off the Horn of Africa as part of the EU Atalanta counter-piracy operation.