NATO’s top sailor, Admiral Clive Johnstone, looks back at a year of challenges and success at sea and looks forward to what 2017 could hold for maritime forces.
He believes that NATO has learned much in the maritime space during 2016, thanks to experiences in the Aegean Sea countering the illegal trafficking of migrants and the end of one the longest-running maritime operations, counter-piracy operation, Ocean Shield.
He also looks forward to new operation Sea Guardian and possible challenges in 2017, including an increase in the number of refugees and a contested space in the Mediterranean with the continuous presence of Russia.
SHOTLIST
00:00 DRONE PAN OVER US AND UK WARSHIPS AT ANCHOR
00:05 SHOT OF MERCURY COUNTER-PIRACY CHAT PLATFORM
00:07 HELICOPTER SHOT OF NATO WARSHIP IN INDIAN OCEAN DURING OPERATION OCEAN SHIELD
00:09 FISHERMEN SIGNAL IN BOAT DURING OPERATION OCEAN SHIELD
00:13 VIEW OF RADAR AND OPERATOR ON A DANISH MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT DURING LAST 2016 FLIGHT OF OPERATIONAL OCEAN SHIELD
00:16 SPEEDED UP SHOT OF NATO INSIGNIA ON WARSHIP
00:20 FORWARD LOOKING INFRA RED CAMERA SHOT OF FISHING BOAT FROM DANISH MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT DURING OPERATION OCEAN SHIELD
00:26 HELICOPTER PAN OF NATO WARSHIP IN MEDITERRANEAN SEA
00:35 TURKISH NAVY PERSONNEL LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULARS IN AEGEAN SEA
00:39 TURKISH HELICOPTER NAVIGATOR WORKING DURING AEGEAN OPERATION
00:48 CLOSE UP OF INSIGNIA OF GREEK NAVAL COORDINATION PERSONNEL ON BOARD NATO SHIP DURING AEGEAN OPERATION
00:52 PULL FOCUS FROM GREEK TO TURKISH NAVAL PERSONNEL ON BOARD NATO SHIP DURING AEGEAN OPERATION
00:57 OPERATIONS ROOM ON BOARD TURKISH NATO WARSHIP DURING AEGEAN OPERATION
01:07 HIGH SHOT OF NATO WARSHIP IN THE AEGEAN SEA
01:12 GO PRO SHOT OF BOAT BEING LOWERED FROM NATO WARSHIP
01:16 ROYAL MARINE COMMANDO LANDING CRAFT
01:20 SHOT OF FORECASTLE OF NATO WARSHIP
01:24 SHOT OF GUN ON SIDE OF NATO WARSHIP WITH OTHER WARSHIPS IN BACKGROUND
01:29 GREEK SUBMARINE LEAVING HARBOUR IN CATANIA, ITALY DURING EXERCISE DYNAMIC MANTA
01:36 CU SHOT OF NETTING ON WATER
01:40 NATO MINE CLEARING SHIPS ARRIVING IN RIGA, LATVIA, DECEMBER 2016
01:49 GERMAN NATO NAVAL PERSONNEL WATCH A REPLENISHMENT AT SEA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
01:55 SHOTS OF RADAR ONBOARD A NATO MINECLEARING SHIP ENTERING RIGA PORT IN LATVIA
02:05 NATO MINECLEARING SHIP ENTERS PORT IN BATUMI, GEORGIA
02:09 HELICOPTER HOVERS OVER SEA
02:13 HELICOPTER SHOT OF NATO WARSHIP
02:16 COCKPIT SHOT OF NATO SEAHAWK HELICOPTER
02:25 Soundbite, Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone, Commander, NATO Allied Maritime Command
“15th December is the formal end of Operation Ocean Shield. That’s a really big landmark.
What I think people don’t realise is that over the last five or ten years, along with a lot of other agencies: the EU; the shipping community; the UN; we’ve taken piracy from a really frightening high, down to a minimum.”
“This summer we stood up Operation Sea Guardian. What Sea Guardian gives me is a glorious ability to do something in a surgical strike mode. So, for example, we were very worried about one part of the Mediterranean. I put four ships and a submarine into that region to understand patterns of life and what we might do there. That’s the sort of thing I can do, I can be really targeted.”
“And I think we’ll have to think very deeply and very carefully in 2017 to make sure we get the posture and balance right.”
“We have really important self-interest there on behalf of all the nations and of course refugees and terrorists exist in the same space.”
“The Russians have a very large task group. We’ve got to understand they’re not the enemy. The Russians have a vote here now and the Russians are doing national self-interest, just like we are.”
“We’ve got to get better, both at sea and ashore. I’ve got to get better as a commander and every one of the gang has got to get better at their skills, making sure we’re both even-handed and can deliver NATO security and value for money, that’s really important.”