The annual exercise organized in order to improve navigation safety in the Baltic Sea by clearing unexploded ordnance dating back to World War I and World War II was held from August 18 to August 31.
"We are pleased with the results of the operation this year. Although there is still a lot of work to do because there is a large number of unexploded ordnance lying in the bottom of the Baltic Sea, every mine that we found and removed is a step closer towards more safe navigation," said Janis Auce, Group Commander of Open Spirit 2017.
Fifteen vessels and five teams of clearance divers from ten countries - Belgium, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and the United Kingdom - participated in Open Spirit 2017 with Latvia in the lead role this year.
Ships from the Baltic Naval Squadron and NATO's Standing Mine Counter Measure Group 1 were among the participants.
Operation Open Spirit is a multinational naval mine clearance and ordnance disposal mission. It is hosted on a yearly rotational basis since 1997 by one of three Baltic nations - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
It aims to reduce the threat of unexploded ordnance throughout the Baltic Sea region, including seabed communications lines, international shipping routes, and fishing areas.
Operation #OpenSpirit 2017 involved clearing WW1 and WW2 mines from the Baltic Sea to make it safer for everyone pic.twitter.com/vuIFYOCwTy
— NATO (@NATO) September 1, 2017
