German frigate begins seven-month deployment to Indo-Pacific region

The Germany Navy has despatched Brandenburg (Type 123)-class frigate Bayern (F 217) on an almost seven month-long deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as part of efforts by Berlin to show an ‘increased presence' in the region and demonstrate solidarity with allies and ‘like-minded' partners.

The guided-missile frigate left its home port of Wilhelmshaven on 2 August following a ceremony that was also attended by German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. The deployment to the Indo-Pacific region, which is expected to end in late February 2022, will be the German Navy's first of the type since 2002.

The 138.9 m-long warship, which has a crew of 230, is expected travel through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal via the Indian Ocean to Australia and East Asia, according to the German Navy. Along the way it is set to support NATO's Operation ‘Sea Guardian' in the central Mediterranean and the EU Naval Force Somalia's ‘Atalanta' counter-piracy operation off the Horn of Africa.

Bayern is also expected to take part in training exercises with the navies of Australia, Singapore, Japan, and the United States, as well as make port calls in Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam, among other places, in a display of “naval diplomacy”, according to German media reports.