Naval Exercise Freezing Winds 24 coming to an end - the Alliance’s naval defence intensified in storm weather

The Finnish Navy-led international naval exercise Freezing Winds 24 will end on Friday 29 November.

he exercise enhanced the ability of Finland and NATO allies to defend the Baltic Sea region in demanding weather conditions.  In the exercise, the training included execution of joint naval operations, including protection of maritime transportation, combat of vessel detachments at sea and combat of coastal troops.

Almost 4500 soldiers and sailors and about 30 vessels took part in the exercise, which makes the exercise blargest ever maritime warfare exercise conducted in Finland..

On Friday the training audiences will return to their bases and the vessels to their regular tasks. The challenges posed at the beginning by Storm Jari running wild on Finland’s coastal areas were able to be tackled:

- You could say that during the exercise we turned the weather circumstances into a new ally.  At the beginning, the storm caused small delays in the activities, teaching, however, our troops and vessels to adapt to very challenging circumstances and, also within a very tight timeframe, to make adjustments to their planning, the Exercise Director, Captain (N) Marko Laaksonen estimates.

The Alliance’s ability to respond to changes to the  security environment in Finland’s neighbouring regions has improved significantly along with the exercise.

Naval visits to Helsinki

Some of the vessels which participated in the exercise will berth for a maintenance call in Helsinki starting from 29 November.  Six Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) vessels will berth in Hernesaari. The visit will be hosted by the Naval Academy. The vessels will not be open to the public.