It is announced that a charter, regarding the sea-lift of Polish military units from Szczecin Port of Poland to Duala Port of Cameroon, in the context of “EUFOR Tchad/RCA’’ Operation, was signed on the premises of the Multinational Strategic Sea-lift Coordination Center, on 22 April 2008.
The Multinational Strategic Sea-lift Coordination Center was established in 2004 to cover the needs in strategic sea-lift both in NATO and the EU. Its mission is to transfer user’s request for ships chartering to the National Sea-lift Department of the Ministry of Merchant Marine to hold an international bidding competition, according to the existing legal framework on its operation. Additionally, the Center may assist in monitoring the routes of chartered ships, following a request of the user.
The aforementioned services cover the requirements arising from the obligation of Greece towards NATO, the EU, the UN, the International Organizations and the states participating in the Center. An Agreement between the Center and the Member- states/ Organizations is necessary for the Center to implement its mission.
The accomplished main missions of the Multinational Strategic Sea-lift Coordination Center are the following:
a. Free sea-lift of Hungarian tanks and Greek BMPS-1 from Koper of Slovenia and Souda of Greece to Kuwait (Hellenic assistance to the government of Iraq)
b. Support to the USA, through their Embassy in Athens, to evacuate American citizens from Lebanon, during the crisis in that state.
c. Participation in the planning procedure of the “EUFOR Tchad/RCA” Operation in Tchad, providing the necessary data concerning the availability of ships during the deployment as well as the support of the forces that will participate in the Operation.
d. Participation in NATO exercise, Crisis Management Exercises (CMX–06 and CMX-08)
