El BAM ‘Meteoro’ ha participado en el ejercicio multinacional Grand African Nemo 2024

• The Maritime Action Ship has carried out naval exercises alongside African and European coastal navies, during its deployment in Coordinated Maritime Presences in the Gulf of Guinea.

The Maritime Action Ship (BAM in Spanish) ‘Meteoro’ has participated in the multinational exercise Grand African Nemo 2024 in the Gulf of Guinea, which aims to strengthen cooperation between regional naval forces to confront maritime threats such as piracy and transnational crime.

This time, the exercise brought together 26 African nations and several international partners, including France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Portugal. This training activity was focused on increasing interoperability and sharing information to create a coordinated response to maritime challenges such as illegal fishing, piracy and smuggling.

During the exercise, the BAM ‘Meteoro’ simulated being a vessel suspected of carrying drugs and weapons. In this training context, the vessel was boarded by the Boarding Team of the Nigerian Navy Ship NNS 'Chalawa’. It then participated in a naval maneuvering exercise alongside two other Nigerian Navy vessels, the NNS ‘Kada’ and the NNS ‘Aba’.

On the other hand, the Grand African Nemo 2024 has involved more than 50 naval units, 12 aircraft and several Maritime Operations Centres of the Yaoundé Architecture - a regional cooperation framework for maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, designed to combat maritime threats such as piracy and illicit trafficking.

This Yaoundé Architecture is promoted by the African Union, together with the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC in Spanish) and the Economic Community of West African States ( CEDEAO in Spanish), with support from international partners such as the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA).

The BAM ‘Meteoro’ participated in Zone ‘E’ of the Yaoundé Architecture, alongside naval units of Nigeria, Benin and Togo, where it pretended to be a merchant ship hijacked by pirates. The ‘Meteoro’ transited the waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Togo and Benin and, finally, in the Nigerian EEZ it was boarded by the boarding and search team of the vessel ‘DB Abuja’.

The Grand African Nemo 2024 (GANO-24) exercise has represented a valuable opportunity to improve training capabilities in maritime operations and strengthen collaboration with the navies bordering the Gulf of Guinea, reinforcing the common commitment in the fight against threats such as piracy, illegal fishing and illicit trafficking. Thus, GANO-24 marks an important step in the development of cooperative relations and the promotion of maritime security in one of the most strategic areas in the world.