RFA Lyme Bay plays the bad guy in one of West Africa's biggest naval exercises
RFA Lyme Bay is taking part in one of West Africa's biggest naval exercises, Grand African Nemo.
The exercise is designed to combat criminal activity in the Gulf of Guinea and enhance security in maritime areas suffering from piracy and other criminal activities.
Partners and allies of African navies are providing support by participating in simulated scenarios to practise and prepare for the real thing.
One of RFA Lyme Bay's roles was as a 'smuggler' ship, a vessel that transports people or goods illegally.
Her crew was 'replaced' by Royal Marines who were determined to make things as difficult for their African counterparts as possible, boarding and then searching the 16,000-tonne support ship.
Similarly, Nigerian Navy patrol vessels, NNS Aba and NNS Chalawa, closed two 'suspect merchant vessels' – one played by Lyme Bay – while Augusta 109 helicopters of the Nigerian Navy conducted patrol and shadow duties of the area.
The Nigerian Special Boat Service searched RFA Lyme Bay for 'exercise narcotics' as they headed up flights of stairs to her bridge where they found crew who refused to co-operate.
In response, they carried out a non-compliant seizure of the bridge alongside the detention of a number of 'merchant crew members', played by Royal Marines.
These exercises were part of the 'dynamic strand' of the operation, although before this, Lyme Bay spent three days in Nigeria where there were multiple defence engagement activities coordinated with the British High Commissions, Abuja and Lagos.
Lieutenant Sam Alberici RM, Officer Commanding 42 Commando Royal Marines Boarding Team 8, says Ex Grand African Nemo has benefited everyone.
"The training has rubbed off on both African and UK personnel. We have built professional relationships and proven our ability to work side by side in combined assault teams."
Commanding Officer Captain Chris Ovens said it has been a highlight of the deployment.
"The ability to train and exercise alongside our overseas counterparts, to hone skills, improve capability and demonstrate our interoperability is extremely valuable."
Along with RFA Lyme Bay, the West African patrol vessels were joined by the French assault ship FS Dixmude, the Italian corvette ITS Borsini, and patrol ships from Spain, Portugal, Morocco, and Mauritania.
Grand African Nemo is a long-running exercise staged in the Gulf of Guinea each autumn by France and West/Central African nations signed up to the Yaoundé Maritime Security Architecture with the emphasis on curbing criminal activity.
It also ensures shipping safely passes through waters from Senegal to Angola – a coastline of around 6,000 kilometres (nearly 4,000 miles) – and looks at how partners and allies of the African navies can assist or bolster that effort.
Last month, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported that incidents of piracy and armed robbery are the lowest they've been in three decades.
But the IMB and its Piracy Reporting Centre warn that crew safety remains at risk.
A post on X by RFA Lyme Bay's crew shows them currently in Sierra Leone – enjoying the sunrise after hosting a VIP reception for the High Commissioner.
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