Russian Black Sea Fleet warships make over 50 calls at foreign ports over year

Military & Defense November 27, 2019, 13:21

The Fleet’s warships stayed for about 4,500 running days at sea while the crews of surface ships and submarines covered a distance of more than 237,000 nautical miles, according to the Fleet’s press office

SEVASTOPOL, November 27. /TASS/. The Black Sea Fleet’s warships have made over 50 business calls at the ports of Greece, Egypt, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey and other countries this year, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.

The Black Sea Fleet held an enlarged meeting of its Military Council in Sevastopol chaired by Fleet Commander Vice-Admiral Igor Osipov to sum up the results of its work in the training year that is coming to a close (the new year begins from December 1). The Fleet’s Military Council heard reports on the results of combat training, logistics supplies, military and political work in 2019.

"The crews of the Fleet’s ships and its coastal defense forces held over 150 various drills during the 2019 training year to accomplish over 500 combat exercises, including live-fire maneuvers," the press office said in a statement.

"In the process of preparing for and exercising combat-duty assignments, the crews of ships and boats practiced and successfully passed no less than 140 course assignments <…> Over this period, the ships made over 50 business calls at the ports of Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, Cyprus, the Syrian Arab Republic, Oman, Djibouti, Yemen and Pakistan," the statement reads.

Overall, the Fleet’s warships stayed for about 4,500 running days at sea over the year while the crews of surface ships and submarines covered a distance of more than 237,000 nautical miles in the Black and Mediterranean Seas and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, according to the statement.

As was reported earlier, in 2018 the crews of the Black Sea Fleet’s warships stayed for over 5,000 running days at sea while the combat ships covered a distance of about 330,000 nautical miles (over 600,000 km).

In 2020, the Black Sea Fleet’s main tasks will include accepting new warships, vessels, armament and military and special hardware for service and accomplishing missions in the Mediterranean Sea, the press office said.

"The participation in the Kavkaz 2020 (Caucasus 2020) strategic command and staff drills will be the main event of operational and combat training for the Black Sea Fleet in the upcoming year," the statement says.

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