A multinational NATO naval group has spent several days in the Port of Świnoujście to replenish supplies and prepare for further operations in the Baltic Sea. The visit also provided an opportunity for the command of Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) to meet both military and civilian authorities. Notably, the core of the group’s command is currently formed by Polish officers.

The several-day port call had a working character. NATO vessels regularly berth in Polish ports to restock, remove waste, allow their crews to recuperate and restore operational readiness. According to the group’s command, it was an intensive yet essential stop ahead of forthcoming operational challenges.

The visit included a call at the city hall at the invitation of Świnoujście’s authorities. Such meetings offer an opportunity to discuss cooperation, joint initiatives and ongoing tasks being carried out in the Baltic. In addition, representatives of military and civilian authorities, as well as delegates from other key institutions and organisations, were received on board the group’s flagship, ORP Kadm. Ksawery Czernicki.

Since January this year, officers of the Polish Navy have once again assumed command of Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1). The group is commanded by Commander Kacper Sterne. The role of flagship is performed by the mine countermeasures command vessel ORP Kadm. Xawery Czernicki, which on a daily basis serves within the 2nd Transport and Mine Warfare Squadron of the 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla. Together with other Allied mine countermeasures vessels, the group contributes to security in the Baltic and the North Sea, monitoring the underwater environment, locating, identifying and neutralising hazardous objects beneath the surface. It also conducts exercises and operations alongside the navies of regional states.

For many years, the Polish Navy has been actively engaged in the Alliance’s standing naval groups, assigning officers to the prestigious post of group commander, forming command staffs to direct operations and deploying vessels from the 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla. Over the years, minehunters of the 13th Minesweeper Squadron, between 2002 and 2015, joined SNMCMG1 on numerous rotational deployments. ORP Kadm. X. Czernicki, from the 2nd Transport and Mine Warfare Squadron, has served as the group’s flagship on four occasions (in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2023), and for half of 2017 with SNMCMG2 in the Mediterranean, the Aegean and the Black Sea. In the past, the Navy has also assigned minesweepers and minehunters to NATO formations.

NATO maintains four standing naval groups on continuous rotational duty. Two are surface strike groups, composed primarily of destroyers and guided-missile frigates, often supported by a replenishment vessel — Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 and 2. The other two are mine countermeasures groups centred on a multi-role command vessel — Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 and 2. In both cases, Group One operates in the waters of Northern and Western Europe, while Group Two is deployed in the Mediterranean and, at times, also in the Black Sea.