ST. PETERSBURG. July 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The four warships assigned to the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) have left the Black Sea following the completion of the Breeze-2014 maneuvers, a spokesman for the Russian Navy's Main Staff told Interfax-AVN on Friday.
"The group of NATO ships - the flagship [of SNMCMG-2], Italy's missile carrying frigate Aviere, the French Frigate Surcouf, the Italian mine-sweeper Rimini and the UK Royal Navy minehunter HMS CHIDDINGFOLD - which took part in the Breeze maneuvers off Bulgaria's coast, left the Black Sea yesterday and are currently moored at Istanbul Port," the spokesman said.
The Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits restricts outside navies' access to the Turkish Straits and the Black Sea to 21 straight days per warship.
SNMCMG-2 usually includes up to eight mine-sweepers and support vessels contributed by the naval forces of Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The group reports to the Allied Maritime Component Command, based in Naples, Italy.