An Cosantóir

23 OPERATION EU NAVAL FORCE MEDITERRANEAN IRINI A decision of the Italian parliament to allow the participation of Italian armed forces in Op ENFM IRINI saw the first Flagship assigned to the operation on 16th July 2020, the Italian Landing Platform Dock ship SAN GIORGIO. This established the FHQ afloat in the AOO in the Mediterranean. The Italian FREMM class frigate (Frégate Européenne Multi- Mission) MARGOTTINI took over from SAN GIORGIO and assumed the role of Flagship on 7th September 2020. ITS MARGOTTINI unfortunately was forced to withdraw from the operation on 25th September due to an outbreak of COVID-19 onboard. The Hellenic Eli class frigate ADRIAS assumed the role of Flagship on 19th October 2020, in accordance with the scheduled six-month rotation of the Force Commander and Flagship between Italy and Greece. Early in the morning of 10th September 2020, Op ENFM IRINI boarded and inspected the Merchant Vessel Royal Diamond 7 (RD7) for suspected violation of the UN arms embargo on Libya. The vessel was in international waters 150km north of the Libyan city of Derna (Cyrenaica). The vessel had departed from the port of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and was heading to Benghazi in Libya carrying 13,000 cubic metres of kerosene fuel as cargo. The boarding operation was carried out by the German frigate FGS Hamburg. The helicopter from the ship was used and the boarding team fast lined from the helo onto the deck of the RD7. A thorough examination of the documentation relating to the cargo of the ship was conducted and fuel samples from each of the cargo tanks were dispatched for analysis in laboratories ashore. When the analysis report on the fuel was received it confirmed it to be Kerosene Jet A1 fuel and suitable for both military and civilian purposes. Based on the information provided by the UN Panel of Experts and the evidence collected onboard the ship, it was decided that this fuel could be considered as "military material" by the UN and therefore UN Security Council Resolution 2292 (2016) and 2526 (2020) apply. The merchant vessel RD7 was detained and escorted northwards while intensive political and diplomatic efforts got underway to identify a suitable port of diversion to where MV RD7 could be brought. After some days of political and diplomatic negotiations, Greece offered a port of diversion where subsequently the cargo was confiscated and the ship freed to resume its business. So far in Op ENFM IRINI, four boardings and fifty seven friendly approaches (a consensual visit on board a merchant vessel by a boarding team) have been conducted, in addition to 1369 hailings of merchant vessels in the AOO. Although the operation has only been in existence for a relatively short period of time, Op ENFM IRINI has established itself among the merchant shipping community as a welcome security provider in the region. As one element in a range of initiatives underway by the EU to assist Libya to establish peace and stability, Op ENFM IRINI is rightly proud of its record and the contribution it has made so far. Further information at https://www.operationirini.eu A French Naval vessel patrols the coastlines of the Mediterranean German Navy board a vessel in the Mediterranean waters A German boarding party departs one of their ships to intersect a vessel HS Limnos provided by Greece to the OP IRINI mission

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