NATO warships visit Derry

Warships from six European nations were arriving in Derry for a visit today.

The NATO multi-national force of five minehunters and a command and support ship will berth at Queen’s Quay to give the crews a long weekend in the city.

On both Saturday and Sunday, the vessels will be open to the public, said the Ministry of Defence.

The Mine Countermeasures Group provides NATO with specialist mine countermeasures capability and is an integral part of NATO’s new Response Force that is designed to respond to a wide range of missions almost anywhere in the world.

The group is commanded by Commander Nico Vasseur of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

His flagship is the ENS Admiral Pitka from Estonia and the other vessels in the group are: FGS Passau (Germany); HMS Bangor (UK); BNS Crocus (Belgium); HNoMS Maloy (Norway) and HNLMS Willemstad (The Netherlands).