Danish mine countermeasures specialists and navy divers are home after just over two months with Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 (SNMCMG1), Danish Defence said on 6 October. The team operated from the Canadian warship HMCS Moncton.
The team came from MCM Denmark and the Royal Danish Navy Diving Service. Canada supplied the ship. Denmark supplied sensors, sonar drones and divers.
— Without them, we could not have solved the tasks the force had been given, said Lieutenant-Commander Justin Wung. He commands HMCS Moncton and the Canadian force leading SNMCMG1.
The group took part in Exercise Northern Viking in the North Atlantic. The exercise focused on the defence of Iceland and the GIUK gap.
The group also trained on historical mines in Danish waters. It was part of NATO's Baltic Sentry mission during the deployment. All its ships handed their data to a new Naval Command centre for underwater data and seabed mapping.
This was the second Danish deployment aboard a Canadian ship. The navy plans to send future Danish contributions to SNMCMG1 with Canada as well.
— Next time, we might try doing it under Arctic conditions, said Bo Snestrup, head of the Subsurface and Seabed Warfare Division at Naval Command.