Corvette returns home again:

OLFERT FISCHER completes her 3-month NATO-tour around Africa

On Sunday at 1000 hrs the corvette OLFERT FISCHER re-entered her home port of Korsør precisely three months after departure.

The corvette OLFERT FISCHER passes the Storebælt (Great Belt) bridge on her way into Korsør.
(Photo: Johnny Balsved)

Click here to see more photos in a higher resolution...

By Johnny E. Balsved

On Sunday at exactly 1000 hrs the corvette OLFERT FISCHER re-entered her home port of Korsør precisely three months after her departure on 21 July.

The corvette has participated in SNMG 1 (Standing NATO Maritime Group One), which has carried out a two month deployment around Africa. The corvette OLFERT FISCHER has now been replaced by the corvette PETER TORDENSKIOLD as the Danish contribution.

Family and friends had taken up position on the outer mole to receive the ship, even when she was still in middle of the Great Belt. The Commanding Officer of the Danish Navy's 2 Squadron, Captain Per Bigum Christensen, and several hundred friends and relations welcomed the corvette as she tied up at Korsør.

Record-breaking journey

During this long tour the emphasis was on being at sea, so on the trip around Africa the only ports visited were Cape Town and the Seychelles.

According to the Squadron Commander, a distance of over 21,400 nautical miles was covered, or more than 39,600 km, which is almost once around the Earth at the Equator.

The corvette was also the first corvette to cross the Equator within recent years, although the offshore patrol frigate VÆDDEREN crossed the Equator a few times during the Galathea 3 Expedition.

On the journey home OLFERT FISCHER passaged through the Suez Canal for the fifth time, thereby breaking her own record as the Danish naval vessel with the most passages through the canal.

The many days at sea could be clearly seen on the ship, soot and rust being evident in several places. External maintenance is not so easy when constantly at sea.

Algae had also taken hold along the waterline, and there is no doubt that some loving attention and a visit to the dry dock will work wonders, before OLFERT FISCHER starts to be used, primarily as a training ship, over the next few years.

Click here to see the photos in a higher resolution...

Translated by Alan Russel (November 24, 2007)

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This page was first published: October 21, 2007 (November 24, 2007)

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