SHARP GUARD
Maritime and air surveillance over territorial waters of Albania and Montenegro
Following a decision taken at a joint session of the North Atlantic Council and the Western European Union (WEU) Council, the separate NATO and WEU operations in the Adriatic Sea to enforce the United Nations’ maritime embargo of weapons imports by the warring factions in Former Yugoslavia were combined into a single operation.
During the operation “Sharp Guard”, there was no report of any ship breaking the embargo. To achieve this result, between November 22, 1992 and June 18, 1996, about 74 thousand ships were questioned, almost 6 thousand were inspected at sea and more than 1400 were hijacked and checked at port. The maritime mission “Sharp Guard” was suspended after the end of the sanctions and finally ended on 2 October 1996 when the United Nations ended the sanctions against former Yugoslavia.
Durata Missione:
15/06/1993 – 2/10/1996Luogo:
Otranto Channel, Albania e MontenegroTipologia:
PeacekeepingPaesi partecipanti:
Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Portugal , BelgiumForze impiegate:
Belgium (1 frigate), Canada (3 destroyers, 2 auxiliary supply vessels, 2 frigates), Denmark (1 naval vessel), France (2 frigates, 2 corvettes for anti-submarine hunting), Germany (3 frigates), Greece (3 frigates, 1 destroyer), Italy (3 frigates, 2 destroyers, 1 corvette), Netherlands (5 frigates), Norway (1 frigate), Portugal (1 frigate), Spain (4 frigates), Turkey (1 destroyer, 2 frigates), England (2 destroyers, 5 frigates, 1 fleet support tanker) and the USA (5 frigates, 10 destroyers, 1 submarine, 3 aircraft carriers, 9 missile cruisers, 1 naval vessel, 1 assault ship, 1 coast guard cutter).Forze Impiegate:
NATO STANAVFORLANT and STANAVFORMED (Standing Naval Force Mediterranean), 8 NATO AWACS E-3A aircraft, 2 NATO Airborne Early Warning Force (NAEWF) E-3D aircraftAltre Missioni:
Joint operation with WEU (Sharp Vigilance) with WEUCONMARFOR (Western European Union Contingency Maritime Force)
