[Photos] German Frigate Bayern Pays First Friendly Visit to Vietnam

German Navy frigate Bayern arrives in Ho Chi Minh City for a friendly visit

Hannah Nguyen

ngminhphuong26@gmail.com January 06, 2022 | 16:44

A German frigate named Bayern, the third ship of the Brandenburg-class frigate, arrived at Nha Rong Wharf in Ho Chi Minh City on Jan. 6 morning, starting its first-ever friendship visit to Vietnam, reported VNA.

Frigate FGS Bayern with over 200 crew members of the German navy arrived at Nha Rong Wharf in Ho Chi Minh City on January 6 morning, starting its first-ever friendship visit to Vietnam. Source: German embassy in Hanoi

During the four-day trip, Commander Tilo Kalski will make courtesy calls to the leaders of the HCM City People’s Committee and Naval Region 2 of Vietnam.

While the Covid-19 pandemic forced limited contact between the crew and on-land Vietnamese counterparts, during the friendship visit to Vietnam, the captain of the FGS Bayern is expected to pay a courtesy visit to the leaders of the People's Committee of HCM City and second Regional Command of the Vietnam People’s Navy, which is charged with the defence of the waters from southern Binh Thuan to Bac Lieu provinces and the southern continental shelf.

Crew members of frigate FGS Bayern are welcomed at Nha Rong Wharf on January 6 morning.

Crew members of frigate FGS Bayern at Nha Rong Wharf on January 6 morning.

Crew members of frigate FGS Bayern are welcomed at Nha Rong Wharf on January 6 morning. (Photo: VNA

Captain Tilo Kalski appreciated the warm reception for the frigate and the crew from representatives of the German Embassy in Vietnam and HCM City’s administration, while expressing a commitment to the maintenance of peace and international law in the Indo-Pacific. Photo: VNA

[Photos] German Frigate Bayern Pays First Friendly Visit to Vietnam

Speaking after the ship welcome ceremony, German Ambassador to Vietnam Guido Hildner said the frigate’s visit demonstrates the two countries’ friendship and also emphasises the Indo-Pacific region’s increasing significance to international relations.

The voyage also expressed Germany’s wish to enhance cooperation with important partners and affirm the rules-based international order, especially the legal value of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), an important legal document on seas and oceans.

FGS Bayern departed from Germany’s Wilhelm port for the Indo-Pacific region on August 2, 2021.

Before Vietnam, it arrived at the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Australia, Guam, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore. Sri Lanka and India are set to be its next destinations on the way back to Germany.

The German frigate will also together with the Vietnamese Navy participate in a PASSEX exercise when it departed.

The frigate's Indo-Pacific voyage underscores the security component of the Indo-Pacific Guidelines adopted by the German government in September 2020, through which Germany aims to strengthen its role as a shaping actor and partner in the region. The aim of the guidelines is to intensify relations in and with the region and place them on a broader footing, informed Vietnam News.

The visit of the frigate Bayern to HCM City in the New Year is further proof of the vitality of the strategic partnership between Germany and Vietnam.

Frigate Bayern is one of the four Brandenburg-class frigates that were commissioned between 1994 and 1996 to replace the Hamburg-class destroyers. The units feature a displacement of 3,600 tons, a length of 138.8 meters, and a beam of 16.7 meters. The vessels are able to perform anti-submarine warfare but they are also used for surface-to-surface and anti-aircraft operations, according to Naval Today.

The frigate joined the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), German Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), and US Navy for Annualex 2021 exercise in November 2021.

The exercise included enhanced maritime communication tactics, anti-submarine warfare operations, air warfare operations, replenishment-at-sea, cross-deck flight operations and maritime interdiction maneuvers.

For the remaining months of their Indo-Pacific Deployment 2021, the ship is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka and India, and finalize the voyage by returning back to base in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, in February.