Kiwi Sailors Return Home

Three Royal New Zealand Navy sailors have successfully completed a six month deployment protecting vital international shipping routes.

The Kiwi sailors, embarked on Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS MELBOURNE, were supporting Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150), a multi-national maritime counter-terrorism task force operating in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman.

CTF 150 is one of three task forces operated by the US-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a 25-nation coalition. The NZ Defence Force’s support to CTF 150 demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to protecting vital international shipping routes, ensuring security and stability in the international maritime environment. The area of CTF150 operations encompasses over two million square miles and includes the main shipping routes from the Far East to Europe and the United States.

In the last few years, the NZ Defence Force has committed around a dozen Naval officers and sailors to Task Force 150 and 151, most notable was last year when RNZN officers commanded CTF 151, says Maritime Component Commander, Commodore John Martin.

“Our three sailors who, along with many other New Zealand Naval personnel, have contributed to the conduct of maritime security operations in a challenging environment. Their work is testimony to their professionalism, training and leadership. The country is right to be proud of their service.”

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Article courtesy of Voxy.

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