Estonian minehunter Admiral Cowan to be part of NRF in H2 2008
16.04.2008
TALLINN, Apr 16, BNS - The Estonian government is about to discuss a bill on Thursday that would put the minehunter Admiral Cowan at the disposal of the NATO Response Force NRF-11 in the second half of this year.
Under the bill, which must be approved also by the parliament, the minehunter will take part in NRF-11 with up to 45 personnel. Its period of readiness lasts from July 1 this year to Jan. 5, 2009.
The proposed mandate for the vessel ends on June 30. A longer mandate is needed for the event if NRF-11 should go on a mission during its readiness period.
The mandate also covers 10 personnel more than the Admiral Cowan's 35-strong crew, which is necessary in case the need should arise to deploy additional personnel on the vessel for training purposes.
ENS Admiral Cowan will be part of the mine countermeasures squardon SNMCMG-1. During the period of readiness the squadron will sail in the Atlantic, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
Estonia has previously contributed its naval staff and support ship Admiral Pitka, the minehunter Sulev, an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) group and a military police unit to the NATO Response Force.
Admiral Cowan is the first Sandown class minehunter delivered to Estonia of a batch of three used vessels of the same class that Estonia bought from Britain.
It was delivered last spring. The second such vessel, Sakala, was delivered in January this year and the third, Ugandi, is slated for delivery in early 2009.
Tallinn newsroom, +372 610 8814, sise@bns.ee
 
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