The Moroccan Royal Navy joined the navies of seven other Mediterranean countries in maritime exercises dubbed “Operation Seaboard 23” off the coast of the Italian city of Augusta from Sept. 18-25, the Chief of Staff of the Libyan Army said in a statement to the Libyan News Agency on Monday.
Jointly organized by Libya and Italy as part of 5+5 Defense Maneuvers, the fleets of all of the 5+5 Defense Initiative countries — Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Spain, and Tunisia, participated, confirmed the Chief of Staff’s media office.
The exercises opened with a theoretical component (Sept 18-20) addressing the execution of the exercises, followed by the practical maneuvers (Sept. 21-25) that included search and rescue exercises, storming suspicious ships, naval maneuvers, resisting a terrorist assault, defending the ship, showing naval formations to VIP guests, and night training for intelligence operatives.
The media office stated that the exercise is part of the 5+5 Defense Initiative’s maritime activities planned for 2023, with the goal of improving operational capabilities, exchanging information, and raising maritime awareness to ensure maritime safety and surveillance in the Western Mediterranean Basin.